Mr. Adam Walton is a newcomer here at Apopka High School, but he’s no newbie to teaching. He’s excited to be a part of our Blue Darter family, and The Blue & White is equally excited to feature him this week! He has a unique personality, and as a new recruit to the teacher staff, he is deserving of this spotlight.

Mr. Walton, originally from Provo, Utah, where he was born and raised, came to teach in Florida. He taught for an astounding eleven years at Ocoee Middle School, teaching from 6th-8th graders. He served as a guidance counselor and reading coach for one year at Ocoee, and as a dean for two years. He sure has a lot of experience.

What’s his proudest moment in his teaching career? He told us, “While there are many things I have been proud of, one year, my principal (from Ocoee) reached out to me to ask if I’d like to send a positive ‘quote of the day’ out to our faculty and staff.” While he didn’t state what the quote was, his school’s principal, “appreciated my positivity, and (he) hoped to create a campus culture built on positivity and building lasting relationships.” Ever since then, Mr. Walton has prioritized this strategy of building positive, long lasting bonds with others.

Mr. Walton is a very talented and ambitious individual. He plays the guitar, as well as many other things. He and his twin brother, Brett Walton, share a YouTube channel cleverly named WALTWINS, with an astounding one-hundred-thirty-five thousand subscribers. On the channel, he and his brother do outdoor cooking tutorials. Combined with their funny personalities, you can’t help but enjoy their content, even if you aren’t a fan of cooking. The WALTWINS have even published their own cookbook with another set to release this May!

To learn more about the wonderful Mr. Walton, we asked him if there’s any movie, book, or TV shows that he really enjoys. “So many!” he tells us. Mr. Walton enjoys viewing a wide variety of TV shows. He recently began (and is loving) the Netflix series Wednesday, a spinoff of the Addams Family story that is a coming-of-age supernatural comedy horror streaming television series based on the character Wednesday Addams. As an outdoor chef, it’s no surprise that he’s a fan of Diner’s Drive-Ins and Dives. Some of his favorite movies include Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Princess Bride, and Ready Player One (among many, many others.) He’s a huge sports fan, and loves watching college football.

We are proud to showcase such a unique teacher like Mr. Walton, and he leaves us with very inspiring words: “The biggest advice I can give you is to never sell yourself short! You are much more capable than you give yourself credit for; let others see it! Always. Choose. Kindness. Be the reason someone smiled today. You may be the only one that did.” We hope that our fellow Blue Darters take these wise words to heart.