October 28, 2022 marked the end of the quarter and English teacher Rebecca Wray’s last week, with Adam Richards stepping in as her replacement.
Richards grew up in a small town in Connecticut. At 15 he started studying Japanese, and during his senior year, he left for an exchange in Japan.
“I speak Japanese, and it’s had a huge influence on my life,” Richards said.
After attending American University, with an exchange year in Kyoto, he moved to Japan. He spent 13 years in Japan and worked as a translator for most of this time.
However, feeling burnt out from working online, and with two kids in the Fairfax County Public Schools, he wanted to use his skills to help kids.
“I’ve seen how much of an influence teachers have, and how positive they can be,” Richards said.
He started as a substitute, but since it had a vacant position, FCPS asked if he was interested to step in full time. As a teacher he said he hopes to give students the tools they need to succeed.
“I can see that they all have potential, and I want to work with them to realize the potential,” Richards said.
He stresses the importance of using the tools available to succeed and looks forward to the rest of the year.