Monte Syrie

Monte Syrie has been chasing better in the

classroom for 28 years. His long journey to

better began in Royal City, Washington in the

fall of 1996 where he was a middle school ELA

teacher for 7 years. In 2003, he had a chance

to move back to his hometown of Cheney,

Washington to teach high school ELA at his alma

mater.

Today, he is still there at home chasing better, one step at a time.

Ever an advocate for challenging the status quo in education, Monte

started Project 180 in the fall of 2016, a journey he has documented

on his daily blog. Unsettled by the notion that things in education have

to be because they’ve always been, he set out to find better for himself

and his students, discovering along the way the promise, potential, and

possibility in the humanization of the educational experience. He

hopes his discoveries from his “do-reflect-do better” approach to

education, and life, inspire others on their own journeys to better.