 Meet ASC XVIII
The 11 volunteers who make up ASC XVIII come from a variety of backgrounds. They offer the schools of the Missouri Province a rich and diverse academic training, and a shared commitment to give back for the wealth of education and experience they received from their Jesuit high school. 
ASC XVIII (L-R): Drew Kirschman, SJ (Assistant Director), Patrick Tebeau, Tim Elliott, Steve Ferris, James Erler, Nathan Everly, Tom Fontana, Joe Welling, Christian Gossett, Matt Paradise, Sean Agniel (Director), Brett King, and James McCann
Christian Gossett
St. Louis native Christian Gossett attended St. Louis University High School and Earlham college (Richmond, IN). At Earlham Christian majored in psychology while unintentionally pursuing a minor in Spanish and Hispanic Studies. He studied abroad in Spain and taught English in Bolivia. He also learned how to cook and developed an unhealthy love affair with Wikipedia. Four years later and forty pounds heavier, Christian graduated with his BA. He is excited to be an ASC volunteer serving Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, MO) as a freshman Spanish teacher. Outside of academics, Christian enjoys soccer, playing guitar, comedy and writing.
Patrick Tebeau
Born in Florissant, MO, Patrick Tebeau grew up in Sacred Heart parish and attended De Smet Jesuit High School. After graduating from De Smet in 2003 he attended Truman State University and graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics. Patrick is happy to be serving as an ASC volunteer at Regis High School (Aurora, CO) teaching Latin I, Computer Literacy and World Geography. In his free time Patrick enjoys fishing, bowling, reading, and pick-up games of baseball and softball.
James McCann
A 2004 graduate from Regis Jesuit High School (Aurora, CO), James earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Regis University (Denver, CO) in Business Administration with emphases in Finance and Marketing. Eventually he intends to attend graduate school for an MBA. For his ASC year of service James is teaching freshman Theology at Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, MO). James’ interests include outdoor activities like hiking, shooting sports, baseball and camping as well as spending time with family and friends.
Brett King
Brett is a Freshman Theology and Computer Applications teacher at Rockhurst High School (Kansas City, MO). A recent graduate from Kansas State University, with a degree in Political Science and minors in Economics and Leadership, Brett is excited to return to the institution that game him so much during his high school years. On top of his workload at Kansas State University, Brett spent much of his time working for the student paper, the K-State Collegian, as news and feature writer, opinion columnist, editor of the opinion page, and advertising sales representative. In his free time, Brett is an avid reader, outdoorsman (enjoying activities like hunting and camping). He also creates culinary masterpieces.
Stephen Ferris
Stephen graduated from De Smet Jesuit High School (St. Louis, MO) in 2004, and from Saint Louis University in 2008 with a BS in Biology. Stephen returns to De Smet Jesuit to teach freshman Biology and coach Lacrosse. His hobbies include fishing, playing lacrosse and making apple butter.
Tom Fontana
Tom was born in St. Louis, MO in 1985. As a young child he moved with his family to Des Peres, MO, a suburb of St. Louis, where he lived with his parents and two younger sisters. He graduated from St. Louis University High School in 2004. Then in 2008 he graduated from DePauw University (Greencastle, IN) with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. While at DePauw he worked as a tutor in the university’s writing center. This year he will be teaching freshman and sophomore English at De Smet Jesuit High School. His interests--to name a few--include reading, particularly twentieth century literature, playing video games, and writing--both journalism and creative. Tim Elliott
Tim attended St. Louis University High School (2004) and Saint Louis University (2008) majoring in English and Secondary Education. He will be teaching two sections of Junior English at SLUH. His hobbies include basketball, movies and music/music journalism. Primary research interests in college include modern American Literature and film. He would like to thank his parents, sisters, teachers, friends and family.
James Erler, Jr.
James is very honored to be a part of ASC XVIII. He recently graduated from the University of Chicago with honors in History. While at Chicago he focused on British Imperial History in China, and did a great number of studies in Ancient Near Eastern History. James also achieved advanced proficiency in Chinese language. He is delighted to be teaching Global History I to freshman at St. Louis University High School. His varied research interests include investigations into Egypt’s Old Kingdom, especially pertaining to its rise and its society, Modern Irish History and historiography, Modernity and its demise during WWI, and Chinese state historiography as it relates to foreigners and Imperialism. His hobbies include movie-going, Cardinals baseball, football (both kinds) and Irish music, culture and language. He also plays the guitar and bodhran.
Joseph Welling
Joe graduated in 2004 from St. Louis University High School and in 2008 from Xavier University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He majored in Psychology with a minor in English. He will be teaching English and Computer Literacy at Regis Jesuit High School (Aurora, CO) while coaching track and cross country. In his free time, Joe will be cheering the Cardinals and Xavier Musketeers to victory.
Matt Paradise
Matt Paradise was born and raised in St. Louis, MO and graduated from St. Louis University High School (2004). He then pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science at Saint Louis University (2008). In his final year at SLU, Matt had the opportunity to work at Anheuser-Busch Brewery as an intern on their computer architecture team. Currently, Matt is volunteering through the Alum Service Corps as a Computer teacher at Arrupe Jesuit High School (Denver, CO). Outside of class, Matt is an assistant volleyball coach. Matt enjoys fixing computers, playing Xbox, biking, camping and playing the piano. Nathan Everly
Nathan was born in Kansas City, MO and graduated from Rockhurst High School in 2004. He attended Washington University in St. Louis where he pursued a degree in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology with a specialization in Cognitive Neuroscience. Nathan teaches Algebra I to freshmen and is a moderator for the student newspaper. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, sports and video games.
|