Professional Life

Mr. Bret Hemmerlin is a 9th-12th grade teacher at RAHS. He has been teaching at RAHS for 15 years and teaches Pre-AP English 10, Public Speaking, and AP Language and Composition. He also coaches speech. He became a teacher not only because he wants to give back to the world, but also because he loves English and reading.

Hemmerlin decided that he wanted to be an English teacher in middle school, and his family loved the idea. 

Hemmerlin loves “how young people care so much about things… one of the great things about being young is being invested and passionate about so many things.”

Hemmerlin said that “when students need support, I first try to communicate ‘I want to help you,’ and I do my best to make sure they know that they matter, and that I am a resource for them.”

Personal Life

Hemmerlin grew up in Eagan Minnesota, and although he doesn’t have any pets, he said that he is “an animal person… the go-to friend to dog sit, cat sit, fish sit-whatever.”

His friends and family are the most important in his life, and he said that although it’s a typical answer, he said “they enrich my life so much and they make my life worthwhile and challenging and interesting and pleasant… I love it.”

His biggest fear in life is that he will have nothing left to accomplish. He would always like to have something to work on, and he would always like to have goals in life.

He said that the three least likely words that people would use to describe him are “apathetic… cruel… and uncreative.” 

Fun Facts

Hemmerlin said that his least favorite vegetable is olives, and he can’t live without a refrigerator. He completed the sentence “Taylor Swift is…” with “one of my favorite pop stars… I love her.”

He has many hobbies, mainly focused around problem solving and puzzles. He loves sudoku, crosswords, and card games like bridge. He said, “I’m excellent at puzzles. Like I probably do at least two jigsaw puzzles each month, each with a thousand or more pieces.”

He does at least two sudoku every night, and he does the crossword three times per week. He also loves singing and said “I don’t care who sees it.”