As you walk down the sophomore hallway, you may notice a faint but noticeable smell of warm coffee lingering in the air. The culprit: English teacher Jeffrey Shalin, a caffeine-addicted man who starts every morning with a cup of joe and soft ambient rain sounds. His shelves are lined with his collection of coffee mugs that he’s been gifted by students over the years, each carefully cared for so as not to ruin them. His dependency on this bitter-brown drink has accompanied him in his 20 years in teaching, a sign proving his dedication to what he loves most.

Mr. Shalin’s long track record in education has turned him into a lean, mean teaching machine. “I’ve always been around teachers,” says Mr. Shalin. “My mother and father are both teachers. From birth, I’ve been in my father’s high school. His students would babysit me and as I grew up, I was helping my father’s basketball league that was in his high school. Teaching and public school has always been a part of my life.” 

Once Mr. Shalin grew into a working man, he discovered his soulmate: The sweet tang of coffee. “I worked at a construction company 25 years ago, and I was in charge of making a pot of Folgers Coffee every afternoon,” says Mr. Shalin. “That’s how I got hooked.” The aroma and the warmth of every sip turned him into a coffee hophead, but nothing could match the vigor of a classroom. “Caffeine and coffee are very important, but what really keeps me going is the energy in my classroom,” remarks Mr. Shalin. “If you’re going to be doing something for 20 years, you better love it.”

His devotion to guiding his students to success starts from within. “From the moment I wake up and I am fully rested, I’m prepared to come and do a good job,” beams Mr. Shalin. “I’m always learning how to be a better teacher. I’m always learning new content and new strategies to teach. It’s truly amazing. After 20 years, I’m still learning new ways of teaching.” Mr. Shalin uses creative methods to make his lessons fun yet educational, from drawing characters from the book the class is reading, to listening to audiobook versions of the assigned texts. “I have to let go of things I used to do, because as time goes, you get overwhelmed with the old and the new,” remarks Mr. Shalin. “I have all these students I would like to help, and the burden is my experience. Even though my experience is my greatest aspect, it’s very overwhelming.”

But when times get tough, and the hands get jittery, instead of thinking that it’s five o’clock somewhere, Mr. Shalin prepares himself an aromatic cup of nature’s nectar. “There’s about seven or eight shops that if I walk in, they would recognize me,” brags Mr. Shalin. “I have to go before coming to work. I have to enjoy it in advance. That’s how I control my addiction.”

Though Mr. Shalin’s coffee dependency leaves his students wondering if he’s actually a part-time teacher and a full-time coffee junkie, his devotion to the classroom has made him a memorable figure in his students’ academic careers. “The unpredictability of the students keeps me coming back,” says Mr. Shalin. “What’s going to happen today? How can I help someone today? Each day is a new challenge, you must keep learning.”