2008 High School Teacher of the Year

CHRIS BROADHEAD
Volunteer High School
French I, II, III, Drama Grades 10-12

Chris graduated from East Tennessee State University with a double major in French and Political Science.  He maintained a 4.0 average in all of his French classes and was graduated cum laude.  He completed a Master of Arts Degree in Secondary Education from ETSU in May 1992.  He is certified to teach French and American Government.

In 1999 he pursued a Master’s Degree in Storytelling from ETSU.  He completed this degree in 2005.  With this degree and a coaching seminar from Lincoln Memorial University he was able to attain the career level of MA+45.

Chris began his teaching career at Midway High School in Roane County.  He was hired by Hawkins County Schools and began teaching at Volunteer High School in 1993.  He has taught French I, II, III, and IV, American Government, and Drama to freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors.  He has been a member of the Hawkins County Education Association, Tennessee Education Association, and the National Education Association since 1993.  At Volunteer High School he has sponsored the French Club, Drug-Free Club, Beta Club, Mock Trial Team and directed numerous after-school theatre productions over the years.  For five years he has served as the assistant tennis coach.  In May of 2005 he took two members of Volunteer’s tennis team to Memphis to participate in the State Tennis Playoffs.

He has attended professional development meetings through the Tennessee Foreign Language Teachers of America (TFLTA), the Southern Conference of Language Teachers (SCOLT), and the American Conference of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).  He has been a mentor to three new teachers at Volunteer High over the past four years.  He developed a Big Brother/Big Sister organization three years ago to help freshman have a smoother transition into high school.  For several years he has taken students from Volunteer High School, Cherokee High School and Clinch School to the Student Council on Policies in Education (SCOPE) Conference in Nashville.  Students attending SCOPE participate in a mock school board to discuss and debate certain issues of importance to local school boards.

Twice Chris has been chosen to participate in summer seminars in France sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  In the summer of 1996, he went to Paris to study Rabelais, Humanism, and the Carnivalesque.  In July 2003, he participated in a seminar that took place in Avignon entitled Theatricality and Reality in Modern French Drama.

Most of his community service has been done through the auspices of the Beta Club.  The Beta Club has attempted to meet the needs of different individuals or groups not already being served by one of the other service organizations in the school.  For several years the club has adopted two or three children from the Angel Tree at the Mall or Wal-Mart, but a couple of years ago they began adopting some of the elderly from the Elderberry Tree as well. 

Another program the Beta Club has been involved with is outreach to teenagers in state’s custody.  Instead of forgetting about these young men and women and just letting them fall through the cracks, the club decided to try to make visits to them and extend the hand of fellowship.  In February of 2004, he took several Beta Club members to the Holston United Methodist Home for Children.  It was near Valentine’s Day, so they took refreshments and had a party with them.  They spent the afternoon playing games and just simply talking with them.  It was an eye-opening experience for the Beta Club members.

That visit was such a positive experience that for the next two years he took members of the Beta Club to the Oaks Retreat Center in Camp Creek, Greene County, Tennessee.  They were able to visit young men and women being served by the Free Will Baptist Family Ministries.  These are students who cannot be with their families for various reasons or who are waiting for adoption.  For a few hours they were able to help them forget about their current situations by playing improv games and sports, eating or singing along to a guitar.

In his professional biography, Chris wrote:
To be honest, God is the reason I’m a teacher today.  All through high school I knew I was going to do something in my life with French.  When my friends asked me if I was going to teach, I was adamantly opposed.  I had no intentions of becoming a teacher.

In college, I combined French with a major in Political Science.  I had aspirations of attending graduate school around Washington, D.C. in pursuit of a Master’s Degree in International Relations.  I moved to Fairfax, Virginia, to live with my dad and go to school.  However, about a month into school a tragic event happened at my Dad’s, and I had to move back to Piney Flats, Tennessee, to live with my mom.  Withdrawing from school and consequently my dreams made me so ashamed and lost.  When I finally had the guts to contact an old friend from school, he asked what my plans were.  I told him I had none, and he asked me if I wanted to start a Master of Arts in Teaching program with him in January 1991.  Some friends of ours had already started work on their degrees, and I told him, “Yeah, I guess I could teach for awhile until something better comes along.”  That was seventeen years ago, and there’s never been anything better than teaching.  I sincerely believe God meant for me to be a teacher.  After an act of violence forced me to move back home, I didn’t have a clue what I was meant to do.  I obviously was not intended to go into the Foreign Service or diplomatic affairs.  I have often wondered what my life would have been like.  God guided me into teaching, and I pray to Him for patience and guidance each day.  I thank God for how richly my life has been blessed because of the many wonderful experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met.  Of course not all of the experiences have been wonderful; teaching has definitely shown me some of the greatest challenges in my life.  It has been through those challenges that God has shown me what I can accomplish through Him who gives me strength.  I was blessed with intelligence and patience, and I’m so glad God guided me onto the path that He wanted for me.

As a teacher, my number one goal is to make the learning interesting for the student, so I guess I’d like to be remembered for that.  It’s easy to be a bad or even a mediocre teacher – you can hand out worksheets or have students do questions out of the book with no life applications whatsoever.  In my classes I like to make a learning connection with the students.  I try to give them some reason for wanting to learn the information other than learning for learning’s sake.

My proudest accomplishment in education would have to be the creation of an after-school drama program.  For the past twelve years I have provided students the opportunity of participating in a play or musical.  These students do not have to be in drama class – the auditions are open to all.  From January until March or April we practice for two hours two to three times per week and offer a weekend of theatre to the community.  I don’t receive a stipend for this, even though I log nearly as many hours as some of the coaches.  However, I involve students in an extra-curricular activity that is for some “the happiest memories of high school.”  Not only does this keep students out of trouble, it helps them cultivate their confidence and talents.  From Peter Pan to Little Shop of Horrors, And Then There Were None to Grease, or this year’s Once Upon A Mattress, I am glad that I have had the privilege of working with so many talented young people, and I hope that I have given them a niche in high school that they otherwise never would have had.