Teacher Spotlight: Mr. Alec Lawlor

Featured today is our 5th grade homerrom/Social Studies Specialist, Mr. Alec Lawlor. Alec is a 9 year teaching veteran who came to SJN in 2015 from Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills. He holds degrees from Concodia University Chicago and oversees the social studies curriculum at the school. One of Mr. Lawlor's favorite class to teach is U.S. History because he hopes to help his students realize their true potential as citizens and inspire them to shape the world into a place of freedom and justice. Mr Lawlor also works dilligently to help guide his students on their walk in faith and spiritual growth.

Alec is very talented at creating an exciting curriculum, often breaking out of the "normal" areas of study to get in depth in the truly interesting aspects of history, and he offers classes beyond the usual, such as Speech class, Classics, and a special class specifically dedicated to preparing students for success in high school. His classroom is filled with flags and helmets and columns and a thousand other artifacts that help to bring his lessons alive. Alec also organizes the flag corps at SJN, coaches the Academic Rally Team, and is one of our Qualified Worship Leaders. 

Alec is a Socratic teacher, preparing students through extensive study of source materials to engage in dialogue and discussion to draw out critical thinking and question underlying presumptions. This style of teaching is the oldest and still most effective means of training a student to think critically, a key and essential skill in the modern world.