With a passion for teaching the next generation, Liberty’s School of Education graduates are making a real impact in their communities across the country and around the world. Here are some of their stories.
Brothers share passion for education as neighboring school leaders
When brothers Derek and Roland Adam started their new jobs with Campbell County Public Schools near Lynchburg in the fall of 2023, their students did a double take.
Derek (pictured above at right) was the new principal of Tomahawk Elementary School, and Roland (left) was a new assistant principal at Brookville High School next door. When high school helpers would go to Tomahawk during the day, they thought they were seeing their assistant principal there. And whenever the brothers visited each other’s schools, they had some explaining to do.
“Students kept saying, ‘Mr. Adam, you work really hard because you’re at both schools,’ so I had to tell them, ‘Oh, I don’t. That’s my twin brother, so I guess I don’t work as hard as you all think,’” Roland joked.
The Brookville community has caught on that there are two Mr. Adams now, and the identical twins have settled in well to their roles as fellow administrators — an opportunity they could have never imagined when they came to Liberty from Long Island, N.Y., in 2008.
The brothers, both 2012 Liberty graduates, said they chose Liberty because of its Christian mission. “When we saw what Liberty had to offer in the academic programs and the campus, really no other Christian school could compare,” Derek said. Roland added, “We looked at all the different programs, at the possibility of what the future could be, and knew meeting other people with like-minded values was important (to us); in New York we didn’t come across a whole lot of that.”
Admitting they were naturally competitive as brothers, they declared their majors about the same time, both in education. Roland would earn his bachelor’s in secondary education with a focus on social sciences and Derek his bachelor’s in elementary education. After graduation, Roland taught science in Northern Virginia then became an assistant principal for Prince Edward County High School. Derek was a teacher and later became principal of an elementary school in nearby Amherst County. Both earned their M.Ed. at different universities.
When Derek was hired at Tomahawk and realized there was an open position at the high school, he didn’t hesitate to call his brother and urge him to apply.
“We always had this dream, like how awesome would it be for us to be able to work in the same school division, totally knowing that would probably never happen,” Roland said. But it did, and he’s grateful. “The schools feed into each other and share many of the same families, so it’s been great. It’s been a huge blessing.”
The brothers say they are also blessed to be raising their children just a few miles from their alma mater, where their careers took shape and where they made so many fond memories and lifelong friendships. They both met their wives at Liberty.
Derek remembers the “incredible campus life,” from trying out the slopes at Liberty Mountain Snowflex Centre, which opened a year after he started, to attending football and hockey games and events in the Tilley Student Center.
The brothers can list off many professors in the School of Education who became their mentors. They still keep in touch with some of them today. Derek said the personal attention from his professors helped Liberty feel like “a large school with a small-school vibe.”
The brothers also appreciate the opportunities they had to be grounded in their faith before heading into the workplace, recalling all the people who spoke truth into their lives multiple times a week.
“Hearing all these people speak to you, whether it’s Convocation speakers or professors, saying that if you are a Christian, whatever you do you should do it to the best of your ability, was amazing. Liberty does empower you to do whatever it is you want to do — and to do it for the Lord,” Roland said.
Derek echoed his brother’s sentiment: “Liberty really helps students understand the hope and positivity (you can have for your work). If you’re believing everything that you do is for the Lord … when you take that mindset, that approach, and apply it to the classroom and apply it to teaching, teaching becomes more than a job; it becomes a way of life. You’re literally pouring your energy and everything you know into these children; they’re our future. When you have teachers who believe in themselves and believe in their students, those kids are going to soar.”
Art teacher uses his childhood experience to help students overcome learning disabilities
As a child, Kuwantu Cammon (’15) struggled to keep up in the classroom. He had learning disabilities, but they weren’t diagnosed until he was an adult. It was only with the help of attentive teachers who discovered his own learning style that he was able to graduate high school.
When Cammon was told he had ADHD and dyslexia, he finally had clarity for the issues he battled for over 40 years. But those years weren’t wasted. His struggles gave rise to the desire to become a teacher so he could better understand why certain children progress differently than their peers. As he overcame his own personal learning challenges and went on to earn multiple college degrees, he gained a new perspective on education and the different ways children learn and develop.
“Growing up with dyslexia and ADHD, I once struggled to find my place in the academic world,” Cammon said. “Today, God has turned those challenges into platforms for ministry and encouragement.”
Cammon is an award-winning visual arts teacher at Britton Elementary School in Oklahoma City. He has recently won multiple teaching awards, including the 2025 Oklahoma Education Award for Arts Excellence from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, 2025 Oklahoma Art Educators Association Elementary Art Teacher of the Year, and 2025 Britton Elementary School Teacher of the Year. He was also nominated for the 2025 Oklahoma City Public Schools Teacher of the Year.
Drawing from his own experiences, Cammon seeks to provide alternative outlets for his students. Rather than teach in a traditional classroom setting with standard textbooks, he emphasizes hands-on learning through artistic expression.
“It took God’s grace of being around teachers who showed me different ways to learn,” he said. “It’s easy for me to pick up on if someone (in my class) is a visual learner, if they have to hear me talk about something or have to read it on the screen, if they have to learn through trial and error. I teach everything hands-on.”
Prior to teaching, Cammon spent seven years making dreams come true as a theatrical performer at Disneyland. Acting bolstered his appreciation for the visual arts.
It was during his first teaching job at the local YMCA in Gardena, Calif., working with preschool and kindergarten children, that Cammon knew he wanted to advance his own education to better serve his students. He enrolled in Liberty University Online Programs and earned his associate and bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education. Cammon also holds a BFA and M.Ed. from schools in Oklahoma.
“My Liberty online education prepared me well because the schedule was an easy fit, but the professors were challenging,” he said, noting his appreciation for the university’s unapologetic biblical worldview. “They questioned and looked for cracks in people’s arguments, so they taught me how to go deeper when I have conversations with people and question certain theories and philosophies.”
He was also encouraged to take his teaching responsibility to heart.
“As an educator, my goal is not only to teach art but also to empower every child to recognize their worth, embrace their God-given talents, and dream boldly.”
Cammon said as a teacher, he seeks to be a light for his students and their families simply by living an authentic Christian life.
“God put me in a career where I get paid to have fun with students and be the example of Christ as I teach art, dance, and theatre,” he said. “I’m a firm believer if you put yourself in an environment, God will lead you where you need to go. You don’t have to force yourself. Even the people who get on your nerves … they are watching you and how you behave in certain situations, and they (notice and say), ‘Oh, there is something different about you.’ And that’s when they ask me questions. And that’s when I tell them my story.”
He said he is deeply grateful for the foundation Liberty gave him to build upon: “Throughout my journey, I have carried Liberty’s core values with me, integrating faith, perseverance, and service into everything I do.”
He said his own story is an example of how Liberty’s mission “continues to ripple outward through its graduates who are impacting classrooms, communities, and future generations for Christ.”
School president unites Christian educators in Florida and beyond
Liberty University alumnus Jason Rachels (’97, ’10, ’16) has dedicated his life to advancing Christian education. As president of Calvary Christian Academy in South Florida, one of the largest K-12 Christian schools in the U.S., Rachels has helped revitalize Christian education in the state and formed an organization to help many others do the same.
While serving as a Bible teacher at a Christian school, Rachels earned his master’s in religion from Liberty and then went on to spend decades in education as a school administrator. He later earned two degrees through Liberty University Online Programs: Education Specialist in Teaching and Learning and Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction.
Rachels has been at CCA for 26 years, the last 11 as president. For 20 years, the Fort Lauderdale campus was CCA’s only location. Under Rachels’ leadership, CCA significantly expanded. When churches in Hollywood and North Miami approached CCA for guidance and partnership, those conversations led to CCA assuming leadership of their schools and relaunching them as CCA Hollywood and CCA North Miami. CCA also launched a preschool in Boynton Beach.
Across all campuses, CCA now serves 3,500 students.
As he built partnerships and consolidated with the smaller schools, Rachels discovered the benefits of forming strong relationships and collaborating with other Christian school administrators. What started simply as casual meetings eventually evolved into the peer network Schools United, launched in 2018. The network now hosts the largest annual Christian educator conference, the Schools United Professional Development Day, and offers resources to anyone working in Christian education.
“I enjoy getting together with heads of other Christian schools,” Rachels said. “When we would get together, there was great camaraderie, we would encourage each other, challenge each other, pray for each other. … It just seemed so natural to have this free professional development and building up of the body of Christ.”
While he acknowledged some Christian schools may see each other as market competitors, he said benefits come from viewing each other as fellow laborers advancing the Gospel.
“As Christian schools, we provide an alternative that teaches the whole truth and shows how all this subject matter connects to God. We also dig into the Bible directly, so we are really making disciples, which Jesus said to do through the Great Commission.”
As CCA continues to expand, Rachels views each incoming student as yet another opportunity to share the love of Christ.
“The numbers are only important to me because they represent the individual lives we are changing. I see kids who are coming to us already as believers who we can strengthen and prepare even more effectively to go out into the world. We have others who come to us as nonbelievers who, through their time at CCA, come to put their faith in the Lord and have their lives changed in that way. We’re seeing more and more lives changed,” he said, noting that even some parents have accepted Christ because of the application process.
Rachels credited his education at Liberty with providing him a strong education from a biblical perspective. He said many of his own CCA students have gone on to
attend Liberty.
Colorado teacher trains African teachers on modern learning methods
For Dr. Mendi Young (’25), research means much more than just simply attaining more knowledge or completing a degree requirement — it provides the chance to positively impact the world for the Gospel.
Young teaches second grade at Indian Peaks Elementary School in Longmont, Colo. She graduated in May with her Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction: Elementary Education through Liberty University Online Programs. Her dissertation was on the work of Missions of Hope International, which provides schooling for 35,000 impoverished children in Kenya, Liberia, and Ethiopia.
Young has been connected with the ministry for years, having traveled to Africa on mission trips. In July, she traveled to Kenya to train local teachers on competency-based education curriculum, using her dissertation research. The curriculum allows for more student engagement in the classroom, more critical thinking and creativity, and more practical application lessons versus test-driven, lecture-heavy instruction. Young visited 50 classrooms over the summer and provided training to 135 teachers.
“The Lord had a plan for this and said, ‘You have information that my people over here need to have; we’re going to use this process for them to get it,’” she said. “The testimonials I have from teachers are life-changing.”
Young said her doctoral program taught her how to apply her research to real-world situations and make a positive impact on children.
“I really felt like the Lord took my education, my experience, and my plans with this degree and melded them together to do something for His Kingdom,” she said. “That’s the story of ministry. We say yes to the next thing, and He’s moving us toward His glory.”
Young said she also views her full-time job in a public school as an opportunity to reflect Christ’s love through her actions. Her passion for public school education stems from an interaction she had in sixth grade when another student talked to her about Christ during lunch.
“Having accepted Christ because of the light of someone else — someone who trusted the Lord to protect their child in a public school so they could be there to share Christ with me — has encouraged me to also be that light.”
About the Liberty University School of Education
Liberty’s residential and online education programs are crafted to support students’ goals to teach in public or private schools, work in administration, or lead educational initiatives.
Bachelor’s degrees are offered in elementary education, middle education, and special education, with numerous specializations. Secondary programs include math, science, social science, and English. Comprehensive programs include Teaching English as a Second Language, visual arts, theatre arts, physical education, Spanish K-12, and music education (choral and instrumental).
Students can earn graduate degrees in education: the Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) and Master of Education (M.Ed.). Doctoral programs include the Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, with specializations in elementary education, secondary education, special education, educational leadership, higher education administration, and more, as well as Ph.D. offerings in educational law, organizational leadership, educational research, and student affairs.
Liberty offers initial licensure in elementary, middle, special education, and various secondary and comprehensive disciplines. The School of Education is accredited or approved by several respected organizations, including the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), and Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI).
Visit Liberty.edu/Education.
