MOTIVATE Honors…De’Shaun Adair

De’Shaun Adair is a Cleveland native. Educated in catholic schools, De’Shaun is a proud graduate of Saint Ignatius High School (Class of 2014). It was during his time as a student at Saint Ignatius that De’Shaun fell in love with service and the fields of education and psychology. In 2017, De’Shaun earned his Associate of Arts Degree from Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) and then transitioned to Baldwin Wallace University to complete his last two years of undergraduate studies. In May 2019, De’Shaun received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a concentration in race, sex/gender, class, and education. 

For the past six years, De’Shaun has worked at Saint Ignatius High School, starting off in Campus Operations. While at Tri-C, De’Shaun began working for the Arrupe Neighborhood Partnership which is Saint Ignatius High School’s service and outreach department. During his time with Arrupe, De’Shaun developed faith formation for high school student volunteers and managed and led the Saint Bernard Movers Program. The Movers program helps individuals of low income and individuals that were once living on the streets of Cleveland find affordable housing, furniture, and then moves these individuals into their new homes. 

Over the last three years, De’Shaun has been very fortunate to be at the ground level development of the Welsh Academy at Saint Ignatius High School, a 6th, 7th, and 8th grade middle school academy for boys from the inner city of Cleveland coming from families of modest economic means. In the implementation year of Welsh Academy, De’Shaun was heavily involved with the admissions committee and curriculum committee. De’Shaun is the proud Founding Learning Coach for the Welsh Academy. In his role, he oversees student support services including tutoring, intervention services, and works closely with the Student Life Counselor as a co-teacher for the Social/Emotional Learning Class that all Welsh students take. 

With a heart for service and deeper learning and teaching, De’Shaun seeks to be the role model for his students that he did not have growing up: an educated man of color ready and willing to work with students in schools to give them a more well-rounded educational experience. De’Shaun believes that educators who are individuals of color are needed more now than ever. As the world changes daily, the faces at the front of the classroom must change also. De’Shaun is driven by the saying, “Each one, reach one” and believes that if he can touch the life of one student, that student can touch the life of someone else.