Christian Sawyer

Local Hero

When you walk into Christian Sawyer’s classroom every inch of the walls are covered in color. There are globes, art projects, murals and pictures of historical figures.

Sawyer teaches Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography and AP European History as well as English II, and is co-sponsor of the National Honor Society at Hillsboro High School in Nashville, TN. He is in the same classroom in which he student taught four years ago while a graduate student in Secondary Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning. But before he landed back here he had teaching stints in Hawaii, Taipei and Kentucky.

This year, he won the Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year award given by the National Council for the Social Studies to two secondary school teachers nationally. In his award it was mentioned that, ”he encourages his students to believe in themselves, to pursue every opportunity, make a commitment to excellence in every aspect of their lives, and to develop a love of learning which will be beneficial to them throughout their lives”.

Working with classmates immediately following the 9/11 attacks to develop a curriculum unit on the causes and effects of the event Sawyer says was perfect preparation for his career as a social studies teacher.

“With Professor Bradshaw’s guidance, we implemented the curriculum in local schools. In teaching these lessons, we helped children cope with this tragic event. It was also quite meaningful to us as newer teachers. The lesson I learned so realistically from this was the link between effective teaching and the real world.”

Christian Sawyer

• M.Ed., 2002 (Secondary Education)
• Current Title: Teacher, Hillsboro High School, Nashville, TN
• Favorite Peabody Memory: Working with classmates immediately following the 9/11 attacks to develop a curriculum unit on the causes and effects of the event.