August 27, 2010
Aaron Hollowell
New Rivet teacher says teaching is in his DNA
Aaron Hollowell is a first-year theology teacher at Rivet Middle/High School in Vincennes. He’s only been in Vincennes a short time but says “I love it.” (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes) Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
There’s a new face at Rivet Middle/High School this year. His name is Aaron Hollowell, and he’s bringing the enthusiasm of youth to the hallowed halls of this Vincennes school.
Aaron is a native of Indianapolis. He’s the fifth child of Joe and Diane Hollowell. He’s also their fifth son in a line of 11 children. “There are five guys, then four girls, one boy and one girl,” Aaron said. The five oldest brothers are called the “high council,” he says with a grin, adding, “it’s awesome.”
His dad is the president of Roncalli High School, a Catholic school on the south side of Indianapolis. His brothers are also teachers, and one brother, Father John, is a chaplain at Cardinal Ritter High School, also in Indianapolis.
When asked why he chose education, Aaron laughs and answers, “It’s probably in the DNA. I always felt that was what I was called to do. I loved talking in front of people, and I enjoyed history and theology.”
He remembers asking himself “how can I merge those two together,” and decided to become a teacher. He knew he wanted to teach in a Catholic school because of the freedom to incorporate faith into the daily curriculum. “You can’t find it anywhere else. It allows you to be more of who you are.”
He graduated from Marian College in 2009 with a major in history and a minor in theology, and then he headed to the University of Notre Dame to participate in its student teaching program. He spent last year working in a school in Atlanta.
When he completed the year of student teaching, he got online and looked for teaching jobs in Indiana. He found a job posting at Rivet, sent in his application and resume, and “sure enough, I got a call.”
The twenty-three year old was hired to teach theology to seventh graders at the middle school and all four levels at the high school. Still pretty young himself, he says he has an “understanding” of “where the students are. I have not forgotten my high school. I definitely understand where the students are — on uncomfortable chairs listening to a lecture.
“I hope I can steer the class. I hope I can make it enjoyable for them.”
As a brand new theology teacher, he’s quick to point out that “I’m 23 years old and the Church has been around for over 2,000 years.”
He adds, “I walk around with the catechism open.”
When asked about teaching theology forty-plus years after Vatican II, he suggests that some Catholics focused on the letter of the law in pre-Vatican II times. He said that some people interpreted Vatican II as “throwing away the law.” Now, he feels there is a better understanding of how to combine the letter and spirit of the law, “which is the true message of Vatican II.”
He quotes Catholic theologian G.K. Chesterton who wrote, “Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground.”
Aaron likes that notion because he believes “the Church wants you to have fun, and the walls [rules] are designed to make you happy as a kid on the playground — as safe as you can be.”
He added, “I like the rules of the Church because I find myself most happy when I am applying them to my life.”
He’s only been in Vincennes a short time but says “I love it. I’m in a small Catholic community, and it’s a mixture of great Catholic values and hard-working values.
“The city here has so much history.”
When he walks the halls at Rivet, and especially when he stands in front of its trophy cases, he says he feels like he is living in the 1986 movie “Hoosiers,” a film about a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship
“Rivet feels like a school with the whole town behind it.”