Todd Hering2014 Rising Alumni
Todd Hering is in his 17th year teaching social studies at Eastview High School and has coached high school debate since 1991 and speech since 1997. He co-founded the Classic Debate League which is dedicated to maximizing the educational benefits of interscholastic debates. Todd is a two-time Minnesota Debate Teachers Association Coach of the Year and a recipient of the MDTA James Graupner Distinguished Service Award. He has coached ten state debate champions, one national debate runner-up, four state speech champions, and five national speech champions.
Employer
Teacher
Eastview High School
CEHD Degree
M.Ed., Curriculum and Instruction
What gets you excited about work?
Leading a classroom where everything is clicking is a great feeling. It doesn’t happen as often as I would like, but the pursuit of those great days is exciting. Designing a lesson that engages students and effectively supports learning is like hitting a home run or sinking a really long putt—when it happens it is a lot of fun. I also have tremendous co-workers at Eastview High School, and wonderful colleagues in the debate and speech coaching world, who inspire me and exemplify what I would like to be as a teacher.
What professors were most influential during your time in CEHD?
I greatly enjoyed my class with Steve Sandell. He introduced us to enriching ways to explore social studies with students and he modeled the sort of classroom environment that I have tried to emulate.
What skills are important to succeed as a young professional today?
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, a desire and ability to seek continuous improvement, a strong work ethic, and sense of professionalism.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was three, I wanted to be a garbage man. Then, I moved on to wanting to be a fireman. Then, a baseball player. I did not seriously consider teaching until my fourth year of college.
If you could have coffee with anyone from history, who would it be?
I would enjoy a candid conversation with Alexander Hamilton.
What was the impact and benefit of your experience in CEHD?
CEHD introduced me to the discussions that are essential to the teaching profession. How do we fully engage our students? How do we fairly and accurately measure their performance? How do we make choices about our curriculum? While one never fully answers these questions, CEHD engaged me in thinking about my own practice in a more informed way.