As a teacher Scherwinsky wrote textbooks on craft design and also participated himself in design competitions and exhibitions, winning bronze medal at a craft exhibition in Riga in 1883 and a silver medal at the All-Russia Exhibition 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod. Among his pupils were the artists Janis Rozentāls and Vilhelms Purvītis. He was an appreciated teacher and received several gifts from his students on his 25th anniversary as a teacher; after his death his students also financed the repatriation of his remains to Riga and his gravestone with a commemorative inscription.