We all know and love our teachers, but rarely do we know their stories or how they got to the point where they are in life. Our own government and economics teacher at Sunlake, Mr. Janes, has a very interesting story of his upbringing and all the paths he took to get to where he is today and how he enjoys life comfortably as a beloved teacher at the school. Mr. Janes has had a very versatile background with both an acting background and a police background. The teacher who teaches us the history of our government has so much history himself.  

     The Beginning 

     When Adam Janes was only in the fifth grade, age ten. “Clowning made people happy.” Said by his mom while his family ate dinner together. This opened his eyes to the whole world of clowning. His mom had originally started clowning because of a work friend. Both Mr. Janes and his sister began to take clowning seriously together. It became a hobby, a fun one. Mr. Janes then went on to attend a ten-week clowning school that gave him miming classes and juggling classes, ending his school by attending a Florida clown convention with his sister, seeing the creativity in the art of clowning. Mr. Janes knew this was something he had fun doing but what is a clown without a name? His sister’s clown name was Whoopsie, a goofy clumsy clown. His mom’s clown name was Sugabelle, a southern clown with a fancy dress. Finally, his clown name was Blackjack with an outfit having a hat with a bunch of playing cards stabbed in it.  

     Growing Up 

     As he grew older, Mr. Janes would still enjoy clowning but continue to pursue something right up clowning’s alley, acting. He attended Florida State Thespians in high school where he would perform monologues, duets, help fix and make set and marketing designs and would end up winning critics’ choice with his group for best performance in all of the counties. Mr. Janes would have such an outstanding performance in Florida State Thespians that he would then go on to be recruited to join an acting troop. He would have a paid job as an actor.  This would require a lot of traveling and not a lot of time to himself as he would always have a very busy schedule. Over time, the more and more acting he had done, he had the realization that this might not be for him. “Anytime a hobby becomes a job, it loses the fun.” Said Mr. Janes when asked why he stopped pursuing acting. Being around constant actors every day of your life had felt like you’re around people who are anybody but themselves, literally. He had to make the choice between a stable career or the leap of faith that acting would hold.  

     Moving On 

     Mr. Janes eventually stopped pursuing acting and attended college. Not sure where his life took him throughout his college years, he achieved a lot. Mr. Janes went to a police academy and easily passed the final test but with the final decision to become an officer, he looked the other way, once again putting a career behind him. Throughout all of this, Mr. Janes knew he would value one aspect of life way more than the other ones he was living through every day through school, and that was life itself. Mr. Janes really wanted to live, feel what it was like to not just survive every day, but live every day. When asked about his values he claimed, “I don’t value free time, its more so living life.”  

     Our Teacher 

     This is the story of how our beloved teacher at Sunlake High School, Mr. Janes, came to be. After putting his two past would be careers behind him, he only looked forward. Due to his values, he tried to look for a job that could help fill in those values for him. He enjoyed working with the youth and liked free time. A teacher is a perfect fit for both, what other job is getting so many breaks throughout the year? As for the people in his friend group that won the critics’ choice award, one of his friends went on to act in NY on Broadway to this day. The other one is now pursuing film and has already starred in a Netflix series called Teenage Bounty Hunters. He now lives very comfortable with his job as a teacher. With this job and the free time it brings, he travels very often not because he must, but because he wants to. We all view our teachers just as people we see talk for forty-five minutes about whatever subject they teach, but it’s easy to forget that they’re people too, and they’ve had their whole life up to the point they’re at today. Never be afraid to ask.