Serving Emerson for almost four years now, Kyle Wenokur holds several roles on campus: He is known as the GT American Studies teacher, head coach of Academic Decathlon and most recently, Emerson’s 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year. But to his students, Wenokur is more than just a teacher. Marked by his deep sense of duty, iconic humor and the authenticity he brings into the classroom every day, Wenokur has made an immeasurable and enriching impact on the campus and his students, truly representing the Maverick’s motto for teachers: “Impact. Equip. Transform.”
For teachers, the classroom is more than just a place to teach. It’s a space where their personal values shine through with their unique presence in the room. Wenokur shares his own personal values he prioritizes when interacting with his students.
“Start with making every student feel seen,” Wenokur said. “I don’t mean that just in the literal sense obviously, but in the more figurative sense that your personality is valued here. Your background is valued here. Your belief system is valued here. Wherever you find yourself on the spectrum of academic achievement, learning is valued here.”
For Wenokur, learning isn’t just about mastering the content. With the goal of bringing authenticity and pure joy into classroom culture, he encourages students to commit to their work while also embracing fun moments along the way.
“Something … I say in class a lot is [that], as cheesy as it sounds, … if we take all the things seriously, let’s not take ourselves too seriously in the process,” Wenokur said. “It is from the way that I just interact with students to how we apply ourselves to the work that we do. It is not just academics, like life is better that way.”
Outside of just the classroom, Wenokur has also been recognized by the entire campus as the Teacher of the Year. He reflects on his reaction when he was first nominated.
“Professionally, it’s flattering because [there are] a lot of really outstanding teachers that work here,” Wenokur said. “It’s just [an] honor to be nominated. Staff have a say in the teacher of the year vote, students have a say in the teacher of the year vote and the administration has a say in the teacher of the year vote. So, I think it’s honoring and humbling in that regard too, that I know at least to a specific degree, that those groups of people thought that I was worthy of the award.”
However, beyond what the award meant to him professionally, he shares what the award meant to him on a personal level.
“Personally, [the award] meant a great deal more,” Wenokur said. “… I didn’t grow up knowing I wanted to be a teacher. In fact, if you were to know my high school self, he’d probably laugh you right outta the room if you told him that he was gonna turn into a high school teacher. So, personally, it means honestly way more than it does professionally because my journey to teaching was challenging, and it was not traditional in any sense of the word, and so it kind of validated [me] in a sense.”
It is that unconventional yet unique journey that made his Teacher of the Year all the more meaningful. Most days, Wenokur shows up as his usual humorous and sincere self in front of his students. However, just like anyone else, teachers also have their low and unmotivated days.
“I think there’s a duty that comes with [teaching],” Wenokur said. “I don’t need to feel inspired every day when I carry with myself a duty. I think inspiring is good, … [but] inspiration weans and wanes. Duty is something that you’re driven by. [Especially], when your duty is [to] other human beings, which is the case in teaching … I lean into that perhaps subconsciously, but often consciously, like, ‘Nope, they need me today and I’m gonna show up in whatever way I need to.’”
Wenokur’s skills, values and dedication were built throughout years in his teaching career. When thinking back on his first year as a teacher, Wenokur gives himself a piece of advice.
“I would tell my first-year self that … ‘Do not cultivate a classroom that suggests the students are the only ones learning. Let them know through [whatever] means necessary that [I am] learning [as well],’” Wenokur said. “Also, I think sometimes I see it in teachers where it’s like, ‘Me teach, you learn.’ But no. We learn. And there are ways to communicate that conversationally with students in the way that you push out material and content.”
Even with all the challenges and struggles that come with teaching, Wenokur never loses sight of what made his profession worthwhile in the first place.
“For teenagers, [it’s] just how weirdly bizarre you all are. That’s the joy of it,” Wenokur said. “Like everybody is different, and I get to interact with … all the different personalities. That’s the one [thing] I look forward to [the] most [everyday].”
As Teacher of the Year, Wenokur embodies the role of not only a teacher but also a true supporter in students’ lives: empowering them to find their potential and embrace their authentic self. He reminds every student that they are seen, valued and heard, and he is thrilled every year to send them off to explore the world.
“We had our time together. Now the world is theirs, so they belong to the world,” Wenokur said.
