Clay Huffaker, a teacher at Chattanooga Christian School, has been named the 2023 Tennessee History Teacher of the Year, an award presented annually by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, an organization dedicated to K–12 American history education.
"Inaugurated in 2004 and now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the History Teacher of the Year award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school," officials said.
The award honors one K–12 teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools, and U.S.
Territories.
In addition to a $1,000 honorarium, the state winner receives a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials and recognition at a local ceremony in their honor, and becomes one of 53 finalists for the 2023 National History Teacher of the Year Award.
Mr. Huffaker received his bachelor of arts from Samford University in 2010, an MEd in secondary education from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2014, and completed an MA in church history through the University of Nottingham (UK) in 2018. He has been teaching at Chattanooga Christian School since 2011 and teaches eighth grade U.S. history, and a civil rights seminar for 12th graders. He heavily emphasizes local history throughout the year in his curriculum,and often includes trips around the city. Mr. Huffaker additionally leads the middle school outdoor education programming, and an annual trip for the eighth graders in the spring each year
to Washington DC, and the surrounding area.
“At CCS, one of our goals is that students would understand the contexts that shape individuals, communities, cultures and nations,” said Niki Ellis, academic dean at Chattanooga Christian School. “Mr. Huffaker lives out this posture before students. They watch him, and they see how he constantly pursues studies and opportunities to
deepen his own understanding of history. They go to his class, and they are invited to head out and explore their own hometown of Chattanooga. Mr. Huffaker doesn’t just teach history, he transforms eighth graders into local historians.”