Stephen Eesley

Stephen Eesley is a 10th grade history teacher who previously taught at the Rising Tide Charter Public School. Eesley grew up in Martinsville, New Jersey and went to high school there as well. Eesley completed his undergraduate in history at the University of Maryland and got one of his masters degrees at Yale, and the other from University of Massachusetts Amherst.

How did you hear about the high school?

Brookline is one of the better neighborhoods in Boston. I really wanted to teach in a school as close to the city as possible and it’s just an amazing community. When I saw the job offer come up, I was very, very excited to apply.

How does your hometown compare to Brookline in general?

It was way more suburban with lots of woods and big yards, but my high school was actually a regional high school, so it had 3000 students. It’s nice to be back in that bigger high school environment again after working for so many years at a 200 or 300 person high school.

Did you always know that you wanted to teach?

I always knew I wanted to teach, but originally I thought I wanted to teach at the college level. After spending enough time at the college level, I decided that it wasn’t for me. Teaching at the high school level would be the better option.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I used to do a lot of running until I injured my ankle, which hopefully I’ll be able to fix sometime soon. Nowadays, I do a lot of cycling and reading. Fiction is probably my favorite genre.

Did you do anything interesting this summer?

My best friend moved out to Oregon for a new job, and she has two elderly cats and didn’t want to fly them, so we drove together across the country in about four days. It was a good time.