Jacob Earnest, English 9/10 Teacher

“He uses his acting skills to help us become engaged. He also focuses on the spiritual side of things, and helps us to think. By presenting the information in different forms, it helps me imagine, and understand what is being taught.”

Current Student

“He’s always so upbeat and smiley. He always ties in the gospel in some way to make everything meaningful.”

Current Student

“He knows how to be relatable and funny, yet also knows when to get things done…makes me sad to think about leaving his class.”

Current Student

“He makes it engaging by changing his teaching styles and you can tell he cares about the welfare of the students, not just grades.”

Current Student

“He’s fun, and I feel safe around him. I feel like he understands what I need as an individual and what we need as a class, and he balances those well.”

Current Student

“Mr. Earnest is a talented and engaging teacher. He uses his acting skills to make history come alive for the students. His love of the subjects is reflected in his enthusiasm as he teaches, passing that love and desire to learn onto them.”

Parent of a 10th grader

“He cares about each child individually. He makes learning engaging and interactive. He looks for ways to lift and help – one by one – in the midst of an entire class. Because of his attitude, the youth want to learn.”

Parent of a 10th grader

“He will even dress up as historical characters and put on his best accent to bring history to life. We are very grateful to have someone who is such an outstanding academic and moral example as a teacher for our son!”

Parent of a 5th grader, 8th grader, and 10th grader

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What Brought You to AHS? –I feel the Lord had a great hand in bringing me here. I love teaching in a gospel setting, and when I saw that I could take subjects such as literature and history and shine the true lens of eternal truths onto them, my heart leapt for such a privilege.

Education — Bachelor of Arts, English Creative Writing with minor in Theatre, BYU-Idaho; Masters of Education, Utah Valley University.

Curriculum highlight — Creativity and engagement. I love the challenge of bringing content to life, and it is exciting to create new and interesting ways of doing that with the help of the Lord.

Why teaching? — To be able to be in a position of positive influence, and assist in the Lord work through the use of the talents he has given me, is a thrill beyond measure.

What Life Experience prepared you to teach at AHS? — My experience teaching for CES (Church Education System). Here I learned methodologies and techniques that have blessed my ability to teach. It has also strongly aided my understanding of what real teaching is, and that I am merely an instrument in the true teacher’s hands

Why do you love teaching at AHS? — I love teaching at this school due to the wonderful atmosphere, the freedom to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ into every subject, and the great opportunity to help youth come to Christ.

Hobbies — Some of my hobbies include writing, sports, board games, and theatre. Theatre, especially, is a passion of mine. I like to participate in all aspects of it.

“I hope to leave a legacy of love and truth. That truth was always testified of and fortified in class, and that love permeated everything we discussed and were taught.”

— Mr. Earnest

Why do you love the subject you teach?

I teach History, Literature, and will teach Theatrical Improv as well. I love all of these subjects. History is fascinating because we look at real people having real experiences that can teach us how to better feel, think, and act.

Literature is beautiful when studied and written they way God intended it to be. To be enveloped into a story that brings principles to life is a beautiful gift from Heaven.

Writing is so vital today, and is a window into our hearts. Understanding the components of this craft can be fun and uplifting as well as rigorous. We try to experience it all.