Captain of the Class

In this episode of Project Candor, host Jeanne Andersen sits down with Eric Austin — a lifelong educator with more than 30 years in the classroom across North Carolina and South Carolina. Eric has been named Teacher of the Year and earned multiple Teacher of the Month awards, but the real story has never been about the trophies. It’s about the thirty kids who chose to spend their free time in his room.

Eric and Jeanne explore what it means to show up for students the way a good coach shows up for an athlete — especially for kids who are quietly struggling. Eric lost his father to ALS at the start of ninth grade, and that experience shaped everything about the kind of teacher — and the kind of man — he became. He talks about three boys learning to cook for themselves, the neighbor who checked in, the coaches who kept them out of trouble, and how he went on to be that presence for thousands of kids who needed it.

The episode closes with a lively Two Truths and a Lie — including whether Eric really competed as a Division I lacrosse player, whether he’s on a quest to visit every South Carolina state park, and whether Citizen Kane is truly his all-time favorite film. Plus: a heartfelt shoutout to K9s For Warriors, a Northeast Florida organization that pairs rescued dogs with veterans facing PTSD.