Austin Wallace is the kind of staff member every administrator wants on their staff. In his 8 years at AMS, he has served in multiple capacities—as Language Arts teacher on the Aspen team, cross country and track coach, TAG coordinator, summer school teacher, East Coast trip leader, and mentor for Magic and Dungeons and Dragons informal lunch-time groups. As if that weren’t enough, this year he stepped out of the classroom and into the position of Student Support Specialist which he describes as a sort of Counselor/Dean of Students. And in all these different roles, he does so with an reassuring confidence, competence, good humor, and humility that endears him to everyone.
About his experience at AMS, he says, “I really like the middle school age group. They’re fun to be around, and I get along well with them. I feel like I have a good rapport with them. What’s been different about this year is that every day I get to sit down with one or two kids and work through a situation with them. I try to create a safe space for them to work through issues they’re having—whether it’s with another student, a staff member, or a family issue. I like knowing that when I come to school in the mornings I’m going to do something good for kids.”
Outside of school, Austin enjoys running, cross country skiing, reading, and hanging out with friends and family. He is currently training for the Eugene Half-Marathon in April and hopes to run the SOB 50K again this summer. A recent favorite novel of his is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.
While it’s hard to know where we’ll find Austin next year at AMS, we feel super lucky to have him working with the kids in our community.