When Spanish teacher Jeff Ware was an 18-year-old senior in high school, he decided to adopt Christianity. Almost immediately after that decision, he knew he would work in Latin America with a Christian organization at some point in his life.
“If I look back on everything that has happened to me since I was 18 years old, I could look at it as preparing me for this moment,” said Ware. “You’re in your job, and you feel like that’s your identity, but what I realized was that [my job] was one of the many steps preparing me to do this.”
Ware was asked to become the executive director of Hope Renewed International, a nonprofit Christian-based organization in Guatemala focused on providing orphan care, employment opportunities and education for children and young adults. He plans to move to Guatemala after the conclusion of the current school year.
“I decided to do this now because the organization is at a point where it is really growing, but there isn’t anybody actually running the [organization] in Guatemala,” said Ware. “So I look at this as me really being able to get in on the ground floor of this organization…and really trying to make a dent in one of the countries with the greatest need in Latin America.”
Kellye Guzik, Instructional Supervisor of the World Languages Department, said when she first met Ware, he described a trip he took to Guatemala as a member of Hope Renewed International. He had also discussed his plans for taking the next step in his life to continue working with the organization full time, so Guzik said she was not surprised when she heard the news.
“He’s been conflicted about this ever since I’ve known him, so for at least two years he’s felt a pull in both directions,” said Guzik. “I just remember he and I were joking on Pajama Day and I’m just like, ‘Hey, this is the last day you’re going to be wearing your onesie to work,’ and he was just like, ‘Yeah, I know,’ so it’s going to be a bittersweet year for him.”
Spanish teacher Todd Keeler also said he was not at all surprised when he received the news that Ware was leaving for Guatemala.
“[My family was] in North Dakota on vacation, and I got a call from him,” said Keeler. “He just said, ‘I’ve got some really big news for you,’ and then the line went dead because we were driving in the middle of nowhere. I just knew, though, it was something along the lines of him switching careers or doing something else like this.”
Ware said that although he faced challenges when deciding to leave, nobody questioned why he made the decision. He also said he was never completely satisfied with the job he had done during his professional teaching career because he said there is always the potential to do it better.
“I still feel like I’m going out on top of my game, though,” said Ware. “But I’m regretting, a little, that I’m not going to have another year to teach something better or learn the next thing that’s going to come along in our profession.”
Senior Anika Newaz had Ware her freshman year and said that while he was excited about Spanish class, he was always enthusiastic about humanitarian work in Latin America.
“Whenever there’d be a chance to discuss culture, he’d always be so passionate about it and tell us countless stories about his life experiences,” Newaz said.
Ware said Hope Renewed International, and the work he plans to do in Guatemala, resonates with him on every level of who he is. As a Christian, father, pastor and educator, he said he hopes to develop responsible youth leadership in the country.
“The organization’s main philosophy is to help people in need without [creating] dependency upon that help,” said Ware. “There’s that accountability. We’re not going to just give handouts to people, even in the city dump, because that creates dependency. That resounds with me tremendously.”