As a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Terry Hennings \u201915 MED was accustomed to people doing what they were told, no questions asked. So it was somewhat unsettling when he started his second career, as a high school teacher, and students didn\u2019t hesitate to question what he told them. \u201cThey would ask, \u2018Why are we doing this?\u2019\u201d Hennings recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But engagement with students was part of what Hennings, 53, was looking for when he became a teacher at Garner (N.C.) Magnet High School. \u201cI remember the teachers who had time for me,\u201d Hennings says. \u201cSo even though I know the kids can be inquisitive, and sometimes push the boundaries, once I make a connection with them, then I\u2019ve got them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once I make a connection with them, then I\u2019ve got them.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Enlisting in the Air Force straight out of high school, Hennings was eager to see the world and experience something beyond his home in rural west Tennessee. He became a medic and loved everything about a military career that took him to places like Germany, Turkey and England. \u201cI re-enlisted five times because of what the military stood for,\u201d he says. \u201cI loved being able to serve my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hennings also loves history and relishes the time he spent in Europe exploring sites he had read about in books. He enjoys reading about historical figures, especially those who were willing to take a stand for change. That passion\u2009\u2014 combined with his desire to serve as a role model for students\u2009\u2014\u2009led him to become a teacher when he retired as a senior master sergeant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garner Magnet High School hired Hennings in 2017 to teach U.S. History and Civics. In 2023, he was recognized as the Wake County (N.C.) Public School System Teacher of the Year. It was an occasion for Hennings, who now teaches Civic Literacy and African American Studies, to reflect on what he treasures most about teaching:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen kids leave my class talking about what we discussed. When they are sharing their ideas and their beliefs with each other, and talking about it civilly. It\u2019s not about me changing their way of thought. I just want them to think.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n
As a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Terry Hennings \u201915 MED was accustomed to people doing what they were told, no questions asked. So it was somewhat unsettling when he started his second career, as a high school teacher, and students didn\u2019t hesitate to question what he told them. \u201cThey would ask, \u2018Why are we doing this?\u2019\u201d Hennings recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But engagement with students was part of what Hennings, 53, was looking for when he became a teacher at Garner (N.C.) Magnet High School. \u201cI remember the teachers who had time for me,\u201d Hennings says. \u201cSo even though I know the kids can be inquisitive, and sometimes push the boundaries, once I make a connection with them, then I\u2019ve got them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once I make a connection with them, then I\u2019ve got them.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Enlisting in the Air Force straight out of high school, Hennings was eager to see the world and experience something beyond his home in rural west Tennessee. He became a medic and loved everything about a military career that took him to places like Germany, Turkey and England. \u201cI re-enlisted five times because of what the military stood for,\u201d he says. \u201cI loved being able to serve my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hennings also loves history and relishes the time he spent in Europe exploring sites he had read about in books. He enjoys reading about historical figures, especially those who were willing to take a stand for change. That passion\u2009\u2014 combined with his desire to serve as a role model for students\u2009\u2014\u2009led him to become a teacher when he retired as a senior master sergeant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garner Magnet High School hired Hennings in 2017 to teach U.S. History and Civics. In 2023, he was recognized as the Wake County (N.C.) Public School System Teacher of the Year. It was an occasion for Hennings, who now teaches Civic Literacy and African American Studies, to reflect on what he treasures most about teaching:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen kids leave my class talking about what we discussed. When they are sharing their ideas and their beliefs with each other, and talking about it civilly. It\u2019s not about me changing their way of thought. I just want them to think.\u201d<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Air Force veteran builds connections with students in a second career as a high school teacher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":4483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-immersive.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-immersive-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"backgroundColor\":\"gray_600\",\"displayCategoryID\":5,\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"Air Force veteran builds connections with students in a second career as a high school teacher.\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[271,461,1139,1239],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-4840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-class-act","category-stories","tag-college-of-education","tag-garner-magnet-high-school","tag-terry-hennings","tag-wake-county-public-school-system-teacher-of-the-year"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":5,"name":"Best Bets","slug":"best-bets","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":52,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5087,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4840\/revisions\/5087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4840"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=4840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}