Even since he was a little kid, English teacher Kevin Brown refused to eat fruits or vegetables. Even today as a dad with two younger children, he stands by his avoidance of not just fruits and vegetables, but seafood and “blue foods” as well. “It’s not about taste, it’s just not a natural color,” Brown said. 

All of his students found this out on their first day in his class. “It was the first thing he said about himself and I just thought, this guy can’t be serious,” junior Madelyn Lee said.

She has Brown for AP Language first period. “I guess you could be weirded out but it was sort of a fun way to open the class, especially after not being in person for over a year,” Lee said. 

Brown strives to keep his class light and stress free for his students as he said he remembers high school being like “another form of torture.” When he was a student himself, he recognized the extreme lack of creativity and freedom of expression that demotivated students. “High school is mainly about creating study skills,” Brown said. 

His love for literature began at a young age as his love for reading blossomed. “Reading expands my horizons in ways that physical experiences don’t,” Brown said. 

Currently his AP Language students are reading a book by one of his favorite authors, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. “I’m always impressed by how he can find something to analyze in one of the simplest sentences in that book,” junior Annika Chapmad said. 

Brown corroborated this. “I think every sentence in that book is purposeful, almost any quote you take from it can reveal a deeper meaning,” Brown said. 

His love for literature extends into a love for analyzing issues and tendencies of society. “I loved him as a teacher, I just couldn’t understand how someone doesn’t eat fruits or vegetables… I mean it’s fruits and vegetables,” junior Ella White said. 

She had Brown in ninth grade and remembers her experience fondly. He continues to leave students puzzled with the admission that he “just never started eating vegetables. I remember one time I had an epic showdown with my dad who wanted me to eat whole grain bread and I sat at the dinner table for six hours because I refused to eat it.” 

His younger daughters eat more vegetables than him. “Basically if you think of a four-year-old and what they eat, that’s me,” Brown said. 

Despite his peculiar eating habits, Brown offers insightful advice for students managing the difficult workload of today’s curriculum, “Stay open minded and stay active, keep opportunities available by working hard and don’t shut things out. Look at things with the perspective of what could go well here,” Brown said. 

His analytical approach to observing life shows those around him how they can learn and grow from their surroundings by a simple shift of perspective.