James Mellish

Hi, I’m James! I’m currently completing my education certificate at UMSL, having earned my undergraduate degree in English from Truman State University.

I've had a passion for working with young people since I was in high school, and have worked with ages 2 through 18. I'm looking to teach high school English, as I believe it is so important for young people to become great writers, readers, and above all, effective communicators.

In terms of other significant life pursuits, I play the card game Magic: The Gathering semi-professionally, and travel across the country for major tournaments. The image above is the official press photo from my most recent high finish, 6th place of about 1000 players in Columbus, OH on January 6-7th, 2018.

I'm currently developing a professional tutoring program to teach young people Magic and help them grow intellectually using the game. Magic provides deeper and more diverse opportunities for learning than even games such as chess, and I hope to eventually start my own Magic summer camp. I believe that Magic can help cultivate more social, imaginative, bright young minds, and I can't wait to get more young people playing it.