Brief Biography:

‍Born in Minnesota, Stephen spent most of his childhood overseas in Dakar, Senegal, where his parents worked as missionaries. He returned to the United States for college, attending Hillsdale College for his B.A. from 2016-2020. A year after graduating, he picked up a job as a TA at a Barney Charter School, then fell in love with teaching and working with the students. He worked at Ascent Classical Academy of Northern Colorado for three years as a 6th grade teacher and now teaches Middle School Literature, Composition, and Math at Lafayette Academy in Lake St. Louis, Missouri.

Post-Graduation Plans:

‍I began the MCEL program without a particular career trajectory beyond desiring to stay in the field of education. It is one I am passionate about and wish to devote myself to for some time yet. I love the act of teaching and am early in honing my craft, so I intend to stay on as a teacher for some time yet. My hope is that through this program I may do my job better and serve these children more fully. I hope that I may also learn whether or not there is some other capacity in which I can serve my school well.

What has been the thing you’ve appreciated most about your time here?

In the general bustle of teaching, there is a considerable amount of time and effort dedicated merely to making it from day to day. Each day of work presents new challenges, refuses to go precisely as planned, and forces the teacher to devote a considerable amount of energy to damage control. This is a natural part of a challenging job, but it meant that there was little time outside of the summer for me to focus on learning how to teach more effectively and how to dedicate myself more fully to the care of these students. Though it is challenging to carve out space for the program, the simple act of sitting and thinking intentionally that I might improve as a teacher has been an immense help and also puts some of the challenges of teaching in perspective. Despite the rigor, there is leisure in thinking about significant things that are worthy of our attention.

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