Emmett Conlon: Living the Jesuit Mission Through Teaching, Coaching, and Faith

On Strake Jesuit’s website, we state, “As a Catholic School rooted in the tradition of the Society of Jesus, we assist young men in their formation as servant leaders and as Men for Others through a comprehensive program of intellectual, spiritual, and moral development for the greater glory of God.” Computer Science Department Chair, AP Computer Science teacher, past Latin teacher, Cross Country and Track Coach, Kairos Leader, and newlywed husband Emmett Conlon fits that description well. He is, to me, the image of a Jesuit teacher.

 

When I arrived on this campus in August 2022, the English office suite had no room at the inn, so I moved into the Computer Science suite. Coach Chuck Kenny and Mr. Conlon took me under their collective wing to teach me how to be a Strake Jesuit teacher. They taught me both the practical (how to use the copier) and the essential (how to live AMDG). After some time of Mr. Conlon showing me Jesuit values and reminding me that the person in the room matters, I learned things about him. Jesuit education has formed Mr. Conlon since the 9th grade. He attended Marquette University High School in Milwaukee and graduated in 2014, where, he tells me, he learned, as a runner, that “body and soul matter.” He says, "Learning to work through athletic challenges positively is at least one path young people can take toward spiritual development." This core principle still forms his work today; Mr. Conlon gives countless hours to his coaching and teaching jobs and goes to a Kairos every year. Body and soul work together to create Men for Others. That’s Mr. Conlon.

 

He also tells me that Jesuit education has taught him that God loves him for who he is, just as he is. He, a shy boy, found Marquette welcoming. His Kairos helped him know that he has a place in God’s world. He felt it helped him grow in his Grad at Grad values: open to growth, loving, intellectually competent, religious, and committed to doing justice. 

He went on to Saint Louis University (SLU) and graduated in 2018, where, in addition to his love for Jesuit education fostered at Marquette, he furthered being “committed to doing justice” by knowing “I am part of the wider world,” and owes responsibility to those principles. These values taught him an openness to growth; his new marriage is yet another example of these principles. He grows daily in his faith, influenced both by his work at Strake Jesuit and his sacramental marriage to his wife, Brenna. Every time he walks onto this campus, he illustrates what Jesuit education does to make the world better: for students, for colleagues, and for the world.

Finally, Mr. Conlon’s Kairos and his time at SLU and SJ made him believe people have more similarities than differences. He chooses to spend his life working and ensuring that other young men learn the same thing, and they help each other to make the world a better place.