My name is John Hesting and I live in Palm Harbor, FL enjoying hobbies including gardening, homebrewing and Ultimate Frisbee. I am originally from Philadelphia and as an ardent Philly sports fan, I usually spend lots of time disappointed, frustrated and cranky....but things have improved greatly as of late as the Philadelphia Eagles are SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!

I was a founding teacher at St. Petersburg College’s Collegiate High School where I taught Social Studies and sponsored many clubs and am still a big booster.  Now, I am a vagabond who teaches at SPC, PHSC, and across school districts where I teach World and American History, Economics, and American National Government.

I love to spend time traveling across the US and abroad to places like New Orleans, Las Vegas, Costa Rica, Peru, and Iceland to explore amazing food, great music, beautiful people of all walks of life, rain forests, ride zip-lines, volcanoes, glaciers, and other generalized tourism. I have also led several experiential learning trips through SPC's International Program to Washington DC and Rome, Italy for college credits in American National Government, World Religions and International Relations. I have also traveled to Turkey with Rotary International to experience enriching cultural exchange and participate in humanitarian efforts. I believe travel is an essential part of any lifelong learning experience.

My Bachelors degree is in Political Science from the University of Central Florida and my Masters degree is in Political Science from American Public University.  I also received a graduate certificate in American History from APU. Other credentials have piled up as I am a life-long curious learner who cannot seem to get enough knowledge and then yammmer on all day about it... (see: Teacher)

As a educator, I am committed to providing students with the skills necessary to be an aware and active citizen and be prepared for life in a world that is constantly evolving and more challenging to navigate. It is my job to prepare students for their roles in an increasingly interdependent economy and a workplace that is dynamic and is being more dominated by AI and other means of tempting people not to think and creatively problem solve. I will strive to lead students in acquiring the skills needed to manage massive amounts of information (and misinformation), become independent thinkers and develop problem-solving techniques to process it all.  My role will always be an interactive one, where the students and I will learn from each other to meaningfully contribute to the world around us.