New math teacher Christian Austin brings his passion for teaching to life as he hopes to learn and grow in a new community.

Austin recently moved to Marlborough after teaching at Winthrop High School for two years. He teaches Algebra 1 and 2 as well as Geometry. While Austin has been passionate about teaching since he was young, he first pursued a career in the corporate world before returning to his true calling in education. Austin’s dedication was inspired by his high school Spanish and physics teachers.

“They taught with such a passion; it inspired me to want to teach as well,” Austin said.

After graduating, Austin worked as a consultant for six years. He values what he learned from this experience, but he always knew that he would eventually want to transition to teaching. During the pandemic, Austin felt burnt out at his corporate job and felt the time was right to follow his dream and become a teacher. Now, he enjoys the freedoms that come with the job.

“One of the things that I really love about teaching is getting to decide what each day in my classroom looks like,” Austin said.

Since making the jump to teaching, Austin has never looked back, enjoying every day of his new profession.

“I feel pretty confident that this is my career, and I feel really happy about that,” Austin said.

Austin tries to make complex challenges approachable for his students. He enjoys making graphic organizers to solve problems and allowing his students to guide him toward what they need to succeed.

“In the classroom, the environment is pretty laid back,” Austin said.

One of Austin’s beliefs is that it is important to be honest with students about how math may or may not apply to their futures. He knows it isn’t likely that students will use or retain much of the information that they learn in his class in the future, but that doesn’t mean the courses aren’t important.

“What they are doing is developing critical thinking skills and problem-solving abilities,” Austin said. “I hope that they can approach problems in their lives in a level-headed way … that’s really what I hope they get out of my class.”

Math department chair Beth Dore is enthusiastic about Austin’s work so far. As lead of the hiring committee, Dore emphasized that they were looking for someone who could relate well to kids, be a good team member and have a love of teaching.

“When Mr. Austin came in and spoke with the committee, we were all just blown away by how intelligent he was and how well-spoken he was,” Dore said. “He left the room and we were like, ‘Ooh, we really want this guy.’”

Dore believes that Austin is settling in well. 

“He comes to meetings, has a lot of good input and asks a lot of good questions,” Dore said. “We’re very, very pleased with our hire.”

In all, Austin is adjusting to his new environment, making connections and becoming more immersed in the school every day.

“I would love anybody to come introduce themselves,” Austin said. “I’m very eager to familiarize myself with everyone and become more a part of the community.”