Kevin Murakami is the newest addition to the BFA design technology department and comes with much excitement for “all of the new opportunities that [his old place of employment] couldn’t offer,” he said. 

So far, Murakami says that he’s enjoying getting to know the people and culture that make BFA such a special school.

In fact, he already knew his fellow design technology teacher, Pete Symula, thanks to the Tech Ed Association, a group of design technology teachers throughout the area. Murakami actually found out about the position through Mr. Symula.

Before coming to BFA, Murakami was the design technology teacher at South Burlington Middle School. He described being a bit nervous to jump to a different school and age group when beginning at BFA, especially during virtual education. However, Murakami did state that he is “confident in what [he does].”  And why shouldn’t he be? With a master’s degree in fine arts and 10 years of teaching under his belt, he definitely knows the field well. He even teaches classes at Champlain College part-time.

Despite his passion for design, he didn’t start off in this field. He majored in animal physiology and has a bachelor’s degree thanks to his studies. Outside of teaching, Murakami has a wife and two sons. His wife is a laboratory research technician with the U.S. Forest Service, and his sons are in college and 12th grade respectively. 

In his free time, Murakami enjoys making music. He has studied guitar in the past and is currently learning and experimenting with electronic music. Murakami is also the coach of the South Burlington HS Bowling Team, which has won two state championships.

Though he is definitely more than qualified for the position, Murakami -like all teachers right now- is struggling with virtual learning. Considering the hands-on nature of most of his classes, he says that some courses, such as introduction to woodworking, are “more challenging” than others on virtual days. 

Luckily, Murakami says that his graphic arts course is going well. In addition to those two, he will be teaching principles of engineering and introduction to CAD (Computer Aided Design) next term, both of which he’s looking forward to, in person or not.

When it comes down to it, though, Murakami says that he’s just happy to be here. 

“I enjoy interacting with students and working with them so their creativity can be expressed. That’s the great part of the classes I teach. The students have a lot of freedom to express themselves, and I get to help them on that path,” Murakami said.

Murakami is excited to learn more about Bellows Free Academy and its students and can’t wait to get to know everyone.