This fall, Chapman welcomed David Smith to the social studies department.

Although this may be Smith’s first year teaching high school, this is by no means his first year in education. Smith taught middle school for the last 14 years.

In his free time, Smith enjoys watching college football in the fall, and during the summers, taking road trips to various parts of the country, visiting national parks and finding challenging hiking trails. 

When Smith was in high school, he started questioning what he wanted his profession to be as he got older.

“I had such a great US History teacher in high school, Coach Luck, then I began considering possibly getting into education and becoming a teacher. I was always interested in history but that class just took my interest to an entirely different level,” said Smith. 

Originally Smith went to UNC-Ashville to play baseball, but after a sequence of unusual events, he ended up graduating from Clemson University with both undergraduate and graduate programs.

When Smith finally made the decision to become an educator, he knew that he wanted to teach high school, but he ended up teaching middle school instead.

”I was very excited for the opportunity to come to Chapman,” Smith said. “The people here are awesome, and it makes being here very enjoyable.” 

Smith does not just care about the work that he gives, but he cares about his students. “He puts on a good role model for his students,” said Freshman A’May Gordon

Students love it when teachers make the learning fun, but also when the teachers are having fun in the classroom too.

 “Mr. Smith is a teacher that I want to have because of his enthusiasm that he has every day during class.” said freshman Somaya Cordova-Higgins. 

For Smith himself he knew that Chapman was the place for him:

“When I interviewed for the position at Chapman, it reminded me of my high school in several ways (the good ways) and I knew it was a great fit for me.”