Learning Legacy: HTHS Teacher of the Year comes from long line of educators

There is a well-known quote about those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Josh Haynes did learn from history, and he was groomed to teach it.

Haynes, a history teacher at Hewitt-Trussville High School, warns that the list of educators in his family will be a long one, but sometimes the past can be an indicator of the future.

Haynes’ maternal grandparents were teachers. Grandfather Claude (Buddy) Cranford was a high school football coach for more than 30 years in Alabama and Florida. Grandmother Christine Cranford taught for a long time at Chalkville Elementary School. His aunt, Gena Cranford, was a special education teacher. Haynes’ mother, Kathy, taught English and world history in Leeds and at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School.

Haynes’ paternal grandparents were also teachers. Grandmother Gwen Haynes did not teach in public schools, but taught Sunday school for decades. Grandfather Robert Melbourne Haynes Sr., a World War II veteran, first taught veterans how to earn their General Education Diploma (GED) certificate before becoming a science teacher at Hewitt-Trussville High. Haynes estimates that his grandfather started there for the 1952-53 school year. He taught at the high school until the early 1980s, when his son, Robert Haynes Jr., started his teaching career there. He started the Advanced Placement history program at Hewitt-Trussville and remained there until his retirement in 2017.

“I definitely come from an educator family,” Haynes said.

Haynes never felt pressure to become a teacher, and he had no plans to do so. He attended Auburn University and began his college career as a journalism major. However, asking tough questions at people’s most vulnerable moments and snapping photos of car crashes wasn’t for him.

“I was at a crossroads,” he says.

One day during his sophomore year at Auburn, Haynes got down on his knees and prayed.

“I was just like, ‘God, do your will with me and I will do whatever you ask of me,’” he said.

What he heard was that he “needed to go and make leaders of men.” He knew what that meant. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 2009 and went straight to UAB to earn his master’s degree in education with a focus in general social studies.

Haynes worked as a longterm substitute teacher at Hewitt-Trussville high and middle schools, as well as Moody High School as an English teacher, in 2010 and 2011. He came home exhausted after managing students, learning new strategies and dealing with the difficulties of being a new teacher. He calls it his “trial by fire.”

“But that’s what this career is,” Haynes says. “There’s so much you learn by trial and error. The best teachers are the ones who are reflective and are always looking to improve.”

In the summer of 2012, the same time he was married to his wife, Adrienne, he was hired as a full-time history teacher at Hewitt-Trussville High. He taught regular history his first few years and has taught AP U.S. History since 2015.

Because of the overlap in the careers of Haynes’ grandfather, father and Haynes, Hewitt-Trussville High has had a Haynes leading a classroom every year since 1953. He is doing his best to keep that streak going.

“As long as they’ll have me here,” Haynes said. “As long as the parents and the students will have me here.”

Haynes formed a Scholars Bowl team at the high school that has made the state tournament the last two years and qualified for the National Academic Challenge in New Orleans. The winning is fun, and Haynes would love to win a Scholars Bowl state championship, but there are more important things. He remembers a girl whose personality changed from closed-off to participatory through Scholars Bowl.

“This was her place, and that’s all I ever hoped for with Scholars Bowl,” Haynes said. “It goes beyond trophies and awards and stuff. To see a kid grow like that, it really makes it all worth it.”

Haynes recently won his own award. In November, he was named Hewitt-Trussville High School’s Teacher of the Year. His commitment to preparation, and the success of Scholars Bowl and the AP U.S. History program are clear reasons why he won. Haynes said he spends countless hours preparing for all aspects of his career, and he called Adrienne a “special wife” for understanding that sometimes his work comes home with him.

“That support has been huge,” he said.

The inspirations and support have come from many people for Haynes. His family, of course, but Ernie Essig was an influence on him in high school. Cheryl Kuyk, the former Moody High principal, once told him, “Do what’s right for kids,” and that has stuck with him.

“There are a lot of people who have helped me get to this point, and that’s why I feel such a duty to help others,” Haynes said. “I just hope kids know that I want the best for them.”

Haynes never expected the award. In fact, as he thinks back to his high school days when he said he did not take chances or have a ton of confidence, he is surprised he is a teacher at all.

“That’s what just absolutely blows my mind,” he said. “Had you told 16-year-old Josh Haynes that he would go on to be Hewitt-Trussville High School Teacher of the Year, I would have never believed you. That means a lot to me, especially knowing where I was. That’s the message I want to preach to my students. Do you know how good you can be? Because your potential is so great. We all have an opportunity to influence others in a good and positive way. We all have the opportunity to do great things, so seize that opportunity and seize that moment.”

Haynes knows that thousands of students have come into classrooms with a “Haynes” nameplate on the door. He adds some pressure on himself to keep that going.

“I feel like there’s a legacy and a name to kind of uphold a little bit,” he said.