Adam Yonkers, the new World History and United States History teacher, is a true "man of the world". He spent four years of his childhood living in Benin, in west Africa, while his dad worked as a Peace Corps Director, and is a dual citizen of Ireland. His family returned to the United States when he was five years old, so he considers Washington D.C., the place he spent most of his childhood, his home.
Yonkers loves traveling to places like Brazil, Costa Rica, Belize, and Ireland where he spent a semester writing a short story.
"I like getting on planes and going places," Yonkers said. "I still like the moment when the wheels pull off the tarmac. I like the sense of adventure, meeting new people, and being exposed to different ways of being."
Yonkers landed in the field of teaching after deciding to get out of his career in business. He got his teaching degree at Stanford University, and then taught seventh grade World History at JLS and Jordan Middle Schools.
"I am happy teaching [History]," Yonkers said. "I grew up in D.C., so History is something I am naturally interested in."
Yonkers went to high school at Taft, a boarding school in New England. He described himself as the type of student who changed a lot throughout high school.
"I was a little bit of a late bloomer, meaning I started doing a lot better academically later on, but I was always interested in friendship," Yonkers said. "I was always more interested in History and English rather than Math and Science."
Yonkers also played baseball his freshman year and basketball his entire high school career. In the next few years, he hopes to become a basketball or baseball coach at Paly.
Yonkers enjoys seeing live music, especially jazz, blues, and soul. His favorite venues are the Independent in San Francisco and Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View.
"My ideal music festival is the New Orleans Jazz Fest," Yonkers said. "They have a gospel tent I have spent a lot of time in, as well as main acts like Al Green and U2."
Reading books, including: The World Is Flat, a biography of Theodore Roosevelt titled Theodore Rex, and fiction such as Cold Mountain.
Yonkers is happy to be teaching high school students the same subject he enjoyed as a student.
"I have a passion for History," Yonkers said. "I like discussing ideas with high school students and forming ideas with them."