Presiding in his corner of the freshman wing, you can find Mr. Ahlers enlightening the minds of the juniors and seniors he teaches throughout the day. Mr. Ahlers teaches English 3 and Other Voice of American Literature. He graduated from Elder in 1991, following his father and brother who graduated in’63 and ’88 respectively. After his years as a Panther, he moved on to a higher education at the University of Cincinnati where he earned two bachelor’s degrees in Education and English. Soon after he received his master’s in Education. Mr. Ahlers later went on to say he has “aspirations to pursue a PHD if life doesn’t get in the way” His inspiration to pursue a career in teaching stemmed off his high school English teacher Mr. Buchannan. “He was a really interesting dude. He opened my mind and made me think.” After graduating, he went on to teach at Moeller, from 1997 to 2003. While being a Crusader, Mr. Ahlers coached football and wrestling. Finally, in the summer of 2003, he made the choice to come back to his Alma mater. During his first year as coach of the freshman football team, the varsity team won its second state title. Even as a coach of the freshman team he still says “It was pretty special to be a part of that championship.” He went on to coach for a few more years before hanging it up for good. Most students walk into his room and see the bright Tennessee orange and wonder why? Well Mr. Ahlers father wasn’t much of a sports guy. They mostly went hunting and fishing. It wasn’t until high school when he met Mr. Rapien, a senior at the time. Mr. Rapien had a bother that played for Tennessee, so they went down to see a game together. That game happened to be one of the biggest games of the year. The Vols went on to beat Alabama and Mr.Ahlers was hooked for life. “100,000 rednecks singing Rocky Top, I thought I was in heaven.” This year was the first year he has missed a game in the last fifteen years. In his spare time, Mr. Ahlers loves fishing, hunting, building musical instruments and being with his family. Every Thursday he works with a friend to build concertinas. Concertinas are mostly found in Ireland and are a very hard instrument to play. Mr. Ahlers can play it a little but when asked if he would ever play at a school Mass, he said a definitive no. He also loves to spend time with his two kids Ketch and Harper. Mr. Ahlers has so many unique things about him, if you are lucky enough to have him as a teacher you might hear a few of his great stories. Whether terrorizing kids with his exams or teaching some Edgar Allen Poe, you can always find him in his corner on the freshman wing in room 24.