CommUnity Corner: Ep 6: Aquaus Kelley

CommUnity Corner | Behind the Blackboard Relaunch Episode: Aquaus Kelley We're back! After a few months away, CommUnity Corner is relaunching — and we're picking up right where we left off, now recording from VFW Post 1451 (shoutout to VFW 1451 for hosting us — this episode does not represent VFW 1451). To kick off this new chapter, I sat down with an old friend from Middlesex College, Aquaus Kelley — a 3rd grade teacher, community activist, and educator who's spent the last decade thinking deeply about what schools could be. We talk about Aquaus's winding path into education — from wanting to be a construction worker as a kid, to quitting football at 16, to music production and an internship at Universal Republic, to joining City Year Miami that changed everything. He shares how he went the alternate route into teaching (no traditional education background), and the story behind his 107-page "Academic Student Success Guide" — a system that he built out of frustration during COVID-19 that took his class average from a 67 to a 92 in one year, back when he taught 5th grade. We also get into: Why alternate-route educators bring something traditional programs can't teach What the military taught both of us about leadership and training people "Discipline is freedom" — rethinking structure, standards, and consequences in schools Why students are the true epicenter of education, and what shared ownership actually looks like in a school Reimagining schools as community spaces — culinary programs, after-hours use, and closing the gap between townships and schools How AI and technology are reshaping what it means to be a person in community Aquaus' vision for using his platform to document and inspire educational leadership This conversation is about mentorship, leadership, and reimagining what our schools and communities can become. Thank you for sticking with CommUnity Corner — more conversations with the people shaping our community are on the way. #CommUnityCorner #Education #Leadership #NewBrunswick #CommunityBuilding #Teachers #Relaunch