While trudging to the main building at Lake Travis High School for an errand last April, English teacher Brandon Pierce received a text from colleague, Lindsay Brooks, claiming there was a student in his classroom who needed his help. Since the trek across our vast campus can be an arduous one, Pierce briefly considered rebutting that the student should come back later, but Pierce being the kind of teacher he is, turned around and headed back to see how he could help.
When he arrived, no student was waiting. Puzzled, Pierce headed to Brooks’ classroom to check in, and when he did, he was greeted by then-principal Debbie Garinger and district staff members with the announcement that he was selected as Lake Travis High School’s Teacher of the Year (2024-25).
“Teaching has always been a part of what I wanted to do. I think that knowledge and intellectual skill is just such a core, important ingredient of human life at an individual and social level,” said Pierce. “The more we know, the better we’re able to think, the happier we will be, and the better things will be.”
With a teaching philosophy that centers on care, authenticity, and connection, Pierce began his tenure at LTHS in 2020, during the upheaval of the Covid-19 pandemic. The transition felt natural due to his experience as a church minister, instructing graduate school classes, and giving adjuncts along the way.
“The main way [to teach] is just to be authentic and sincere. I think I try to communicate that I actually care about you as a human being through learning your name pretty quickly and asking about your life and showing you that I actually want to hear the answer,” said Pierce. “I think being witty and funny and silly helps break the ice a little bit. Being knowledgeable about subject area helps build trust and credibility, those sorts of things, but it’s mostly just about being a decent human being.”
Outside of the classroom, Pierce’s love for literature continues. Although he said it is difficult to choose a favorite novel, he ultimately leans toward The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. “It was an assigned book in high school. I started reading when we got it, and then I just ignored every class the rest of the day and kept reading it because I was so invested.”
When asked what it is he wants the most for students, Pierce said “As a teacher, what’s at the heart of what I think about every day is how learning itself is a form of care. I want your life to be good and happy, and I think knowledge, with intellectual skills, is key to that.”
Pierce was also named the district’s Secondary Teacher of the Year in May.