At the beginning of the year, a new Sacred Texts teacher and wrestling coach named Austin Emerson joined the Stuart Hall community. But who is this man? Where did he come from? And how is he adapting to life at Stuart Hall? The roundtable asked several of his students to find out.

Both Daniel Rakin ‘18 and Sean Ingoglia ‘18 claim that Mr. Emerson has a different teaching and classroom style than his theology neighbor, Mr. Vasquez. Daniel says that while Mr. Vasquez focuses more on discussions, Mr. Emerson emphasizes the importance of developing one’s ideas through writing.

But who is Austin Emerson? Mr. Emerson was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Fort Myers. He attended public school most of his life, before attending Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. He has experience working with the homeless through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in St Louis. He later received his theology degree in Berkeley at the the Jesuit School of Theology. With this degree, he taught first at a public school in Dallas, Texas and then at a community college in Tennessee. He now works both as a theology teacher and wrestling coach at Stuart Hall during the day, and as a university minister at the University of San Francisco at night.

Mr. Emerson says that teaching theology at Stuart Hall, a school that he believes to have one of the best religious studies programs in the country, is a unique experience, citing the diversity in religions as a major positive factor. Mr. Emerson said, “We have a Buddhist temple across the street, we have a Catholic church next door, we have the cathedral around the corner, and we can just walk to Sherith Israel.” He says his students here, unlike those in the Bible Belt, are both very easy to teach and very open minded to other religions, due to the religious diversity in the city.

Mr. Emerson has taught children about other religions all over the country. Whether SHHS is the final destination in his journey as a teacher, or just another stop  that will someday be highlighted in  another school article on new teachers, only time will tell.

At the beginning of the year, a new Sacred Texts teacher and wrestling coach named Austin Emerson joined the Stuart Hall community. But who is this man? Where did he come from? And how is he adapting to life at Stuart Hall? In order to find out both sides of Mr Emerson’s story, the roundtable both the man in question, and several of his students about him.

Both Daniel Rakin ‘18 and Sean Ingoglia ‘18 claim that Mr. Emerson has a different teaching and classroom style than his theology neighbor Mr. Vasquez. Daniel says that while Mr. Vasquez focuses more on verbal discussion, Mr. Emerson emphasizes the importance of developing one’s ideas through writing, and frequently gives in class writing assignments.

But who is Austin Emerson? Mr. Emerson was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Fort Meyers. He attended public school most of his life, before attending Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. He also has experience working with homeless people with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in St Louis. Mr Emerson received his theology degree in Berkeley at the the Jesuit School of Theology, and with this degree, he taught first at a public school in Dallas, Texas and then at a community college in Tennessee. He now works two jobs as both a theology teacher and wrestling coach at Stuart Hall during the day, and as a university minister at the University of San Francisco at night.

Mr. Emerson says that teaching theology at Stuart Hall, a school that he believes to have one of the best religious studies programs in the country, is a unique experience, citing the diversity in religions as a major positive factor. Mr. Emerson said, “We have the Buddhist temple across the street, we have the Catholic Church next door, we have the cathedral around the corner, and we can just walk to Sharith Israel.” He says his students here, unlike those in the Bible Belt, are both very easy to teach and very open minded to other religions, due to the religious diversity in the city.
Mr. Emerson has taught children about other religions all over the country. Though whether SHHS is the final destination in his pedagogical journey, or just another step that will someday be mentioned by another school article on their new teacher, only time will tell. What do you think of Austin Emerson? And who deserves the spotlight next?