Bipeds of Brookland: Brian Lounsbury

Bipeds of Brookland: Brian Lounsbury

Brian Lounsbury teaches 4th grade at Yu Ying Public Charter School, less than a mile from his house, and tells friends “if I decide to drive to work, I could break down, walk, and still be early. My wife teaches there, my son goes there, so our daily commute does not take us far out of Brookland.”  He is proud to work at the International Baccalaureate School with a Chinese immersion program, which seeks to make its students global citizens.

Although he first studied environmental science, Brian finds teaching very rewarding. “I’m very much an experiential hands-on teacher, I like to have kids learn by doing. My philosophy is to teach with and learn with as opposed to teach at students.”  He has taught creative classes in Yu Ying’s after school program, including Young Engineers, Sewing, and The Knights Club, which “was a medieval history adventure club where the kids learned sword fighting and legends and mythology and making catapults, how to build a castle, how to tear a castle down.” He enjoys teaching about nature, and was a volunteer for BioBlitz with National Geographic this year.  

Brian calls himself “an avid artist and chef” who worked for years in restaurants and has a passion for cooking for friends and family.  He also volunteers with the fundraiser Krampusnacht DC, a charity walk which benefits foster children in DC.

Brian moved to Brookland because “we liked that it was historically and traditionally an integrated blue-collar neighborhood. We liked the feel of 12th Street. It had a very neighborhood small town feel to it, and the deeper we got into it we noticed the deep sense of community, a lot of activism and lots of loyalty to Brookland for multiple generations.”  He swears, “even If I won a million dollars I wouldn’t move. We’re pine box residents, as I will be moved out of here in a pine box.”

Bipeds of Brookland: A weekly series introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time.
Article and photo by: Tom Sabella