For Clay Huffaker, a teacher at Chattanooga Christian School, the start of the 2023-24 academic year has been filled with excitement, both in his personal and professional life.
The school year for Chattanooga Christian began Aug. 15, and the next day, Huffaker’s wife gave birth to their second child. He took the week off to be with his wife and daughter as they welcomed their newest addition, a baby boy, into their lives.
When it came time to return to the classroom, Huffaker carried not just the pride of having a new baby, but also a new professional distinction. About a month prior, Huffaker was named the 2023 Tennessee History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, a national nonprofit focused on supporting history education in K-12 schools.
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According to Huffaker, who teaches eighth grade American history and a civil rights seminar for 12th graders, the award came as a surprise, and it encouraged him to keep working hard and improving as a teacher.
“It was really exciting,” Huffaker said of winning the award in an interview. “It … did make me feel a pressure to continue and, in some sense, like, ‘Alright, I’ve got to keep getting better.'”
The award is presented each year to one K-12 history teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools and the U.S. territories by the Gilder Lehrman Institute, according to the institute’s website. Nominated teachers submit supporting materials such as a lesson plan and a letter of support that are evaluated by a panel of judges to select award winners. Winning teachers are distinguished by their commitment to teaching American history, creativity and imagination in the classroom and effective use of educational materials to engage students, the website said.
In addition to recognizing teachers, the institute supports history education through the use and provision of educational programs and resources for students, teachers and schools, according to the website. Huffaker said he has attended several of the institute’s seminars and has utilized several of its continuing education resources. The institute’s resources, he said, make history education new again for him and gives him new material to share with his students.
“Whenever I go to one of the seminars in the summer, I always come back feeling excited to teach again,” he said.
Huffaker received his bachelor’s degree from Samford University and went on to receive a Master of Education in secondary education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as well as a Master of Arts in church history from the University of Nottingham. He felt he struggled in middle and high school, he said, but hit his stride in college where he started to become interested in teaching.
During the summers while he was in college, he worked at a summer camp, which he said served as an entry point into the teaching profession.
“I think that was probably the place where I really grew to enjoy working with kids: teaching them how to water ski, play soccer, fish, things like that,” he said. “It was life giving. It was fun, and I enjoyed it and wanted to continue doing that.”
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Huffaker started his teaching career in 2011 at Chattanooga Christian School, he said. In more than a decade of teaching, he said being in the classroom and working with students makes coming to work enjoyable.
“I’ve never felt downtrodden coming in the door to work like I didn’t want to be there, and so I think I’ve been really blessed to have that experience,” he said.
In his eighth grade class, Huffaker said he frames American history as a smaller part of the larger history of the world. He said he likes for students to get away from the idea they are studying history to pass judgement on those who lived before them, and instead that, by studying history, they are learning “what it means to be a human being both past and present.”
In practice, Huffaker said he likes to fill in his students’ education by focusing not just on the “greatest hits” of history but also on the interesting local history of the Chattanooga area. He pointed to John Ross, the removal of Native Americans and, in the case of his civil rights seminar, the activism of Chattanoogans like Willie Ricks as events and individuals that shape his understanding of the city’s history.
“I think it’s kind of changed the way I’ve seen the city of Chattanooga for the better,” he said, “and I hope that students kind of take that with them, that they know that there’s this big picture of U.S. history but a lot of these things intersected really well with our story of Chattanooga, too.”
In an interview, Jim Arnold, Chattanooga Christian’s middle school principal, characterized Huffaker as a great storyteller capable of capturing students’ attention and getting them engaged with history. Arnold said Huffaker is not just a teacher but a lifelong learner as well, which is beneficial for students to see.
“You get someone talking about something they love, and you feel that passion. His is pretty contagious,” Arnold said of Huffaker. “It’s measured. It’s not wild, but it’s so focused and so thoughtful, and I think the students really catch on to that.”
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Huffaker said a history education provides students with a practical understanding of civics and teaches them to be more literate through exposure to complex vocabulary and ideas. A history education can serve as an inspiration for overcoming adversity, he said, and can help students understand and self-reflect on current events.
As for teaching itself, Huffaker said he wants to help students learn discernment and to be better writers, readers and thinkers by the time they leave his class. More holistically, he said he wants to help students become more empathetic.
“Empathy isn’t always something you’re really born with,” Huffaker said. “I think it’s something you’ve got to teach and cultivate, and I think history is the perfect place to teach that and get people to think about other people.”
In addition to the title of Tennessee History Teacher of the Year, Huffaker will receive a $1,000 and collection of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials. On Sept. 27, Huffaker will be honored at a ceremony in Nashville recognizing his achievement. There he will also present two history lessons. As the state winner, he is a finalist for the National History Teacher of the Year Award, which will be announced this fall.
Contact Sam Still at sstill@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6579.