Every year, St. Joe welcomes many new faces belonging to students, faculty, and staff. At the beginning of this school year, the Social Studies department specifically brought a new member to their team: Mr. Scott Moore.
Born and raised in South St. Louis and an alumni of Afton High School, Mr. Moore loves being surrounded by the local community, especially because his family is located here. In addition to his mother and father, he grew up with two older brothers with whom he is extremely close, and he has always chosen to live nearby to stay connected to them.
“I liked that there was everything that I needed here…my family was here too, so that was a big part of my life,” Mr. Moore said.
While Mr. Moore has made an effort to remain in the St. Louis area, he did enlist in the Army reserves shortly after graduating high school, which allowed him to travel and experience new places. In the army, he was trained as a railroad engineer, a job that he later took with him into everyday life after he completed his service. While he loved it, he found the work very exhausting, so he decided to move forward to pursue a career in teaching, another passion that was fostered during his time in the military. He was able to travel around the country witnessing history firsthand, which fed into the interest that he developed as a kid. He was also able to participate in leadership roles that allowed him to explore his potential as a teacher.
“I was somewhat of a teacher while I was in the army because, within my army units, I would do things like instruct on different courses depending on what that was and helping out other soldiers, especially if they were in my platoon or my squad, so it just kind of felt natural to do,” Mr. Moore said.
After serving in the army, Mr. Moore attended the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where he received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. His first job was student teaching at Notre Dame High School. He then taught at Trinity High School, and eventually at St. Dominic High School for eight years before coming to St. Joe. He is currently celebrating his tenth year as a teacher. Mr. Moore likes to teach at Catholic Schools because he admires the religious aspect of teaching.
“It allows me to get to know the students from a different perspective other than just from the classroom side, so when people share their intentions, it allows me to grow a little bit closer towards them, and we get to share those experiences together,” Mr. Moore said.
This year, Mr. Moore teaches American History to juniors, World History to sophomores, and Psychology to juniors and seniors. In addition to teaching, he revived and now moderates St. Joe’s Bowling Club, which existed several years ago. His favorite thing about teaching is being able to get to know his students.
“The students make each day different for me, and, actually, helping them reach their goals, whether or not it’s in the classroom…[is] really rewarding and then enriching for myself, but also to see how they can be happy,” Mr. Moore said.
Cecilia Simpson is a sophomore at St. Joe, and she is in Mr. Moore’s World History class. While she enjoys history, she struggles with memorization, so she has appreciated Mr. Moore’s teaching style, as it has helped her learn and focus better.
“He’s not too serious about the class, and he’s flexible with what we do. He makes a lot of jokes, which makes the class move a lot faster,” Cecilia said.
Mr. Moore’s biggest inspiration is his mother. She immigrated from Thailand before he was born, and she raised Mr. Moore and his second older brother by herself, teaching them how to be independent at an early age; she made many sacrifices to better their lives. This contributed to Mr. Moore’s decision to teach at an all-girls school like St. Joe.
“That kind of passion—the want to help other people, so they wouldn’t have to do those things like my mom had to go through—is something that I want to keep pushing forward,” Mr. Moore said.
Outside of teaching, Mr. Moore enjoys lots of activities including photography, bowling, running, and golf. He is also a referee for ice hockey in his spare time, and he has two cats with his wife.
St. Joe is certainly looking forward to getting to know Mr. Moore as he learns the lay of the land and becomes integrated into the school community.
