John Freshwater

About John Freshwater

John Freshwater (born June 22, 1956) is a controversial science teacher at Mount Vernon Middle School in Mount Vernon, Ohio, USA.

Freshwater has a Bachelor's Degree in Education from Ohio University and an Associate's Degree in Recreation & Wild Life from Hocking College. He married Nancy on December 20, 1980, and has three children: Luke (born August 2, 1987), Sarah (born July 30, 1989), and Jordan (born June 4, 1993).

The local school board voted to dismiss Freshwater in June because "Freshwater preached his Christian beliefs about how the world began, discredited evolution and didn't teach the required science curriculum, the board says. He was told to stop teaching creationism and intelligent design, but he continued to do so, an investigation found." In addition, the school board released a report showing that Freshwater branded a Christian cross into one student's arm and several teachers complained for eleven years about Freshwater's incorrect teaching of evolution. Two of the parents' of the children branded filed a lawsuit against Freshwater and the school district. He gave an extra-credit assignment for students to see the pro-intelligent design movie Expelled:No Intelligence Allowed, using Jonathan Wells' discredited Icons of Evolution and work by convicted felon Kent Hovind. According to CNN, "The report also cites evidence that Mr. Freshwater told his students that 'science is wrong because the Bible states that homosexuality is a sin and so anyone who is gay chooses to be gay and is therefore a sinner'."