About Jack Berckemeyer

A nationally recognized presenter, author, and humorist, Jack Berckemeyer began his career as a middle school teacher in Denver, Colorado. After only two years, he was recognized as the outstanding educator at his school and in his district. Then in 2003, Jack received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the Falcon School District. Jack has also served as a judge for the Disney American Teacher Awards and has served on the selection committee for the USA TODAY All-Teacher Team. Jack has a master’s degree in Middle Level Education as well as an administrator’s degree.

For 13 years, Jack served as the Assistant Executive Director for the National Middle School Association. He is the owner of Berckemeyer Consulting Group where he has presented in hundreds of school districts and conference settings both nationally and internationally.

Jack is known not only for his keynotes and workshops but is also highly regarded as one of the best long-term professional developers in the country. Jack is best-practice focused and research-based. He is in high demand and enjoys working with districts that truly want to see measurable changes. As the owner and director of NUTS and BOLTS—the Never Boring Conference for Educators, Jack brings conferences for educators to a whole new level of engagement by focusing on best practices, and offering realistic and practical hands-on tools to increase success for educators, schools and students.

He is the author of Managing the Madness: A Practical Guide to Middle Grades Classrooms; Taming of the Team: How Great Teams Work Together; How to Do Virtual Teaching Even If You Have a Face for Radio; and numerous educational articles. In addition, he is the lead author of the comprehensive professional development curriculum: Elements of Effective Teaming. Jack has also co-authored Deliberate Optimism: Reclaiming the Joy in Education (with Debbie Silver and Judith Baenen); The What, Why, and How of Student-Led Conferences (with Patti Kinney), and H.E.L.P. for Teachers (with Judith Baenen). His latest book, Successful Middle School Teaming, was released fall of 2022 and is the companion guide to, The Successful Middle School: This We Believe.

Jack lives in Denver, Colorado and has no pets or plants.

Want Jack to come to your school? Fill out this questionnaire!

Testimonials / What Our Clients Say

  • “We have worked with Jack for the last three years, starting with an “opening day” presentation that was done in by a hurricane and presented in March with the same inspiring impact and continuing with consultations with our teams over a number of days during the school year. I have been the assistant principal here for 17 years and was a teacher on a sixth grade ‘team’ for 11 years before that and in the past three years Jack has brought our teams to a higher level than we were able to reach in the all the years before that. Jack not only knows what it means to be a great team, he can assess teams and work with them in a manner that gets people excited about the changes they need to make. Jack is one of the few educational ‘gurus’ that can truly deliver on the promises. He is what any school who is striving to meet the needs of every student through the development of highly functional teams needs.”

    Lisa Cushman Assistant Principal - Brunswick Junior High School

  • “The first time I met Jack was less than two months into my first year of teaching 7th grade. His presentation was the first professional development I had received and since then I have compared every other conference and presentation to his. I’m sure I won’t be the first (or the last) to say that nothing compares to an hour or two listening to Jack!

    Not only is he truly hilarious, but he shares relevant ideas that I have actually used in my classroom! Since listening to him in October 2011, I’ve been lucky enough to see him a handful of times. EACH time I am left with a stomach that aches from laughter and a busy mind that can’t stop pondering how and what to immediately incorporate into my classroom.

    I can assure you, you will not be disappointed if you take an opportunity to learn from Jack!”

    Emily Boone Kings Junior High School - Kings Mills, OH

Jack's Bio

Consultant Contract