Jackson Hall hired as teacher

Jackson Hall grew up with Oak Park High School as the backdrop to most of his young life, from visiting his father at work as a child, to roaming the campus as a student. This year, however, Hall is making an appearance at Oak Park again — this time as a history teacher.

At age 23, Hall sports a subtle nose piercing and colorful floral tattoo peeking out from his shirtsleeve. His passion for teaching and history stems from a childhood exposed to the profession.

“Both of my parents are teachers here in the district. My mom is a substitute [teacher] so that’s obviously my biggest influence. As a byproduct of that, a lot of my role models in my life have been teachers,” Hall said. “People like Mr. Cook and Mr. Creason and Mr. Kinberg were people that I looked up to growing up.”

Hall, a recent graduate from the University of California, Santa Barbara, currently teaches four World History classes and one United States History class. He also intends on helping to coach the freshmen boys’ basketball and baseball teams, both of which he played for while attending Oak Park High School.

“It would be awesome to come back and contribute to those programs who helped make me who I am,” Hall said.

Despite adapting to the Oak Park environment since being hired, Hall said he still finds it difficult to call his former teachers, and current colleagues, by their first names.

“Mr. Creason hates it when I call him Mr. Creason. He wants me to call him by his first name, which is difficult for me since I’ve known a lot these people forever,” Hall said. “Mrs. Bowman gets on my case when I call her Mrs. Bowman, and when she reads this and sees that I’m calling her Mrs. Bowman right now she’ll probably be frustrated.”

Despite the new adjustment, Hall said he is grateful for the support given to him by all his fellow teachers.

“They’re really supportive, they really know who I am. They won’t let me fail,” Hall said. “They always come in and check on me.”

When applying for the position, Hall participated in a trial run with other potential applicants, where he gave a lesson to students on Utilitarianism using a trolley problem. In the problem, students decided between letting a trolley kill five strangers or pushing a lever that would move the trolley, but kill one person.

“He taught us the lesson through experience and discussion rather than simply notes. He had his lesson memorized, he had everyone’s attention and treated us like adults,” sophomore Atmika Iyer wrote in an email to the Talon.

Hall mentioned the simple strategies in conducting that class which he continues to practice in the current school year.

“I just wanted to be myself and be honest about the way that I approach teaching. I would take every interview seriously, but there was something really special about [that] one … You don’t want to be thought of as the person you were when you were fifteen, in your twenties,” Hall said.

Beyond school, Hall still enjoys playing basketball, spending time with his friends and family and going to the beach. He also enjoys reading, and considers the Harry Potter series to be some of his all-time favorite novels.

“When I took [the Hogwarts House quiz] the first time, I got Gryffindor. The second time I took it, I got Ravenclaw which I felt weird about so I made another account and took the test again and got Hufflepuff,” Hall said.

Hall has even turned his younger brother, Trent Hall, and father, Rob Hall, into Harry Potter fans, getting them to read the books too. A true testament to his dedication — he read the final Harry Potter book in less than 12 hours.

Hall’s already a favorite of many students, according to sophomore Julia Winck, who has requested him to be their club adviser after taking his World History class.

“He’s one of my favorite teachers so far and is perfect for the global aspect of our club,” Winck wrote in an email to the Talon. “His teaching style is super interactive and keeps all interested which is nice, because I’m never really bored in his class.”