Captivity Narrative

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Trip Kinzie: Bridging the realms!

Welcome Chief!

Now’s The Time to give a huge shout-out to the newest member of the NTT production team, Trip Kinzie!

TK105 dropped into the Now’s the Time Podcast on January 5, 2026. Trip was hired as a consultant from Trip Kinzie Consulting, LLC and serves as NTT’s Chief Communications Officer. 

Trip and Tara’s journey goes much farther back than January 5 as they’ve known each within our cozy village for over two decades. It’s amazing to see how the years’ ebb and flow eventually lead to this great opportunity to collaborate on NTT’s important work!

Trip was born in Chicago and was raised in suburban Oak Park, Illinois. While he is an eighth generation Chicagoan and he loves the Windy City (people rarely know why the city has this name…details later!), he has an insatiable interest in people, culture, and travel.

Trip graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1989 and headed to Knox College in Galesburg, IL. The Knox College experience changed Trip’s life forever as he met his future wife during the first week of Freshman orientation. Trip credits Knox College for his personal and professional success as he sharpened his academic and professional skills while completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Anthropology. 

After graduating from Knox, Trip continued his undergraduate studies and graduated with a second Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education- Social Sciences and headed into what became a thirty year career in public education. As Trip gained ground in his teaching career he completed a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and a second Master’s Degree in Psychology both from the University of Phoenix Online. 

Trip started teaching middle school social sciences for the Chicago Public Schools in September, 1995 and he retired from the district on January 1, 2026. During his thirty year career with CPS Trip spent twenty-nine of those years teaching at Hitch Elementary School where he served as a classroom teacher, technology coordinator, grant writer, and a Teacher Representative for the Local School Council. While at Hitch, he created the Student Travel Sequence that featured a one day Chicago Tour, Springfield Tour, and a one day field trip to DC, Boston, or New York via airplane for middle school students. Trip credits his strategic planning, fundraising design, and desire to create authentic student experiences for his success. 

During his CPS career Trip won over $100,000 in competitive grant awards to fund his work. His efforts were recognized with awards at the local, city, state, and national levels, including: The Chicago Foundation for Education’s Teacher of the Year Award, Illinois State Board of Education’s Star in the Classroom State Teacher Award, a two-time Fund for Teachers Fellowship Grant Award Winner, and he was one of thirteen teachers nationally recognized by Staple’s National Thank-A-Teacher Award Campaign. 

In addition to his work with the Chicago Public Schools, Trip taught for Northwestern University’s Center for Public Safety in Evanston, Illinois for fifteen years and Loyola University Chicago’s Project Upward Bound. This summer, he continues to serve as an instructor for the Avery Coonley School Summer Program in Downers Grove, Illinois for his thirty-second summer program with this Independent School for gifted and talented students.

Outside of his instructional responsibilities for the Chicago Public Schools, Trip enjoys showcasing his pedagogical approach at local, state, and national conferences. He is grateful to serve as an invited presenter for fifteen different National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) annual conferences across the country. Trip also enjoyed serving as a Study Group Coach for the Chicago Foundation for Education and mentoring five student teachers within his classroom at Hitch School. 

Aside from a career in social studies instruction, Trip spent the last fifteen years teaching, facilitating, and performing in drum circles. He and his students performed for over 8,000 people, including two presentations on the House of Blues Chicago main stage. In 2022 he recorded, produced, and released Spiritual Oceans under the artist name Elemental Level. Elemental Level streams a variety of sites, including: Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, and Deezer. In 2015 Trip was interviewed by the American Psychological Association and his work was showcased in the article Brilliant Teaching by Rebecca Clay in the APA’s Monitor on Psychology publication.

Trip married his college sweetheart, Julie, from Knox College and they have two children. In 2012, they founded Kinzie Consulting, LLC. Trip engages in short-term and long-term consultation projects with Summit Educational Services and Trip Kinzie Consulting. Trip specializes in executive coaching, instructional support for early career and veteran teachers, and writing and revising content for personal and professional audiences. Julie’s business, byJulianna, designs and produces custom embroidery for home, sports teams, and commercial enterprises for one-off or job-scaled larger runs.

In his spare time (ha!) he enjoys preparing for and participating in Sprint Triathlons, with over twenty events completed (including the Chicago Triathlon…twice… once with a flat tire!). Swimming (his favorite tri element), working out, and the sauna are important components of his self-care routine. He has deep love of music and food…which pairs quite well with the fact that he’s a casual oenophile…He has a passion for music and he is especially fond of improvisational expression associated with Miles Davis and The Grateful Dead-related groups. His favorite escapes are  The Rocky Mountains (or any mountains) in Colorado and Siesta Key Beach (or any beach) in Sarasota, FL. Camping, birding, and quiet times at the family fire pit fill his soul.

Welcome to the show, Trip Kinzie!

Trip's listening suggestion from our shared and public Spotify Playlist TLW152 is:

Freddie Freeloader by Miles Davis

Pop Quiz: Why is Chicago called the Windy City?

• It is due to the weather...
• It is due to long speeches...
• It is due to all the water and the bridges...
• It is due to the history of the Great Chicago Fire...