by: Susana Groot
Mr. Kuczynski started working at EAC in 1994, almost 30 years ago, he worked primarily as an English literature teacher, although he also worked in the ELL section of the school. Cellphones were created and because of them many students from Scandinavia, with parents from companies such as Ericsson and Nokia, started joining EAC, and their English was quite limited. The ELL program had to be developed. After being involved with the ELL program, Mr. Kuczynski also became involved with the school curriculum, he states how when he joined the school he asked what had to be read in 11th-grade English, and someone said “Just ask what they didn’t read last year, and you can do those.” Always seeking growth in our school, Mr. Kuczynski became the curriculum coordinator, and from there he became assistant principal, and he says that the work for both positions was quite similar, so it was an easy transition. As he entered the school one of his main challenges was how small EAC used to be, with less than 300 students from preschool to high school
(9 students in the senior class), there was more familiarity rather than formality in the school, today there is a different dynamic between the school and families, as it grows, “evolving into something different than what it was” in his words. He says he wants us to remember that we like a more familiar school and always evolve with that in mind.
“small school feel, even though we are growing”
-Kuczinsky
Mr. Kuczinsky is proud of how the school grew, educationally, he said that the college results have increased immensely. Many of these changes were due to a sudden increase in strict international teachers in EAC that definitely shocked the students, but obviously helped the students and the school evolve academically. “I would say that’s what I’m really proud of, the school is really a great academic school.” Changing the school, its curriculum, and the ways students learn was definitely a challenge, according to Mr. Kuczynslki. He is also very proud of the elective courses, and how they are now seen as serious courses, he sets drama and graphic and visual arts as examples. He shows how these courses are important as they can guide a student’s career-wise and even if they don’t, many skills learned in these classes can help a student in the future. His “passion project for the school” is the development of the school’s art department, especially the arts center, and this is something he has wanted in the school since his entry, in ‘94. He thinks it’s important to invest money in the arts as it sends a message about how it is something important, and how the school wants to cultivate talented students, and how the school needs to provide opportunities to develop their talents and resume.
His own view of the school, as a parent, is also valuable, and he states how he sees his daughter flourish in university because of the school, and how IB helped to shape her, especially with time and work management. He also said that his daughter, Yasmin Kuczynski, always had a great support system from her teachers. He says that being a parent and an administrator helps him as how he sees students, not only as students, but also as children, and that they aren’t bad, but they make mistakes and as an administrator and teacher, he has to help them learn and be better.
Mr. Kuczynski also likes to spend his time playing in bands, he plays for the school in the Band of Dads as a bass player. He learned how to play in middle school in garage bands. The Band of Dads started out before the school even had a music program, there was primarily a rock band program that he ran, and he had to eventually stop working with it so much as he received the administrative position, and he hired some professional players to keep the band going, the main point of the band was to encourage students to perform music, and they would play as a backup band, for example if a student wanted to sing a song in the international day, they would play in the background.
“ You have no idea how many Hannah Montana songs I had to learn to back up young girls!”
-Mr. Kuczynski
After playing in school events, a couple of school dads asked to play as well, and they came up with the Band of Dads. Mr. Kuczysnki sees music and art as something really important, in his life and in his career, he considers English and literature to be greatly involved with art, he considers literature an art. Art and music are also important in his leisure time, “it is literally how I fill up all of my time…” In school, it amazes him how all his colleagues have so much expertise in art and how he can talk to them, and he considers himself lucky to be surrounded by all these different people with different skills.
Mr. Kuczynski is grateful for how the school gives him so many opportunities to play music and be involved in the arts. When he had just entered the school, the currency, real, had just been established, therefore for someone moving into Brasil, everything was quite expensive. To be able to go to school to band practices, Mr. Kuczynski had to buy a car and the one he found in his budget was a yellow car, that he didn’t like that much. His students of the time would make fun of him for the color of his car, calling him a Taxi driver and asking him for rides, the class liked the car so much that they asked him if their senior picture could be taken with the bright yellow car on the background, it was taken down to the field and the picture was taken. After many years, this story has evolved into a rumor where people believe that his senior students “stole” his car and drove it down to the field as their senior prank.
Mr. Kuczysnki is someone who has been in EAC for many years, he nurtured and developed this school with passion and dedication, he created fun memories here and will create many more, this school is as much his home as it is ours. Seeing him in the hallway people fear him, look down, avoid eye contact, and lower their tone, with this interview I hope we can all get to know him better, understand his values, morals and role in the school, lose some of the fear we all have of him but maintain the well-earned respect he deserves.
EAC PRESS 