The Tennessean -

Gov. Bill Haslam’s career plans were not always political.

As a younger man, he had a much different goal.

“I started out in life thinking I was going to be a history teacher,” Haslam said, telling a group of students Tuesday at Cane Ridge High School that life — and the family business — took him in a different direction.

Haslam graduated from Emory University with a history degree but then joined Knoxville-based Pilot Travel Centers, the company his father founded.

He took off his suit jacket in the Cane Ridge classroom, becoming animated as he led a back-and-forth discussion with students about many specifics of World War II.

Haslam was at the school as part of Teach for America Week, celebrating the teaching force that graduates from the national program that trains non-education majors to become teachers. Teach for America graduates, which begin as some of the nation’s brightest college students, are proving to be some of its most successful teachers.

The program’s graduates outperformed most traditional university training programs on the state’s 2010 scorecard on teacher training.

This year, 108 Teach for America graduates are in 39 schools around Nashville, and those at Cane Ridge are living up to their peers’ reputations.

“Our Teach for America teachers are some of our strongest here,” said Principal Michel Sanchez-Wall.

It is a statement

Haslam does not find surprising.

“It shows the importance of recruiting talented people,” he said, noting that great teachers are the ones who can reach each child by moving away from a traditional approach and using different methods and strategies.

Kevin Huffman, the state’s new education commissioner whom Haslam recruited, is a product of Teach for America. He trained with the program’s third class after graduating in 1992 from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania with an English literature degree.

While Haslam’s support of limiting the bargaining rights of teachers unions has led to some sectors doubting his support of teachers, he was adamant in telling the class at Cane Ridge that education is the key to their future,and listening to and learning from their teachers is what will help them be successful in life.

“So what do I have to do to be governor?” asked sophomore Sherrod Davis, one of the more vocal

students during Haslam’s visit, even suggesting

the two switch places for a day.

The governor said the first step is getting a high school diploma.

“We need you all to graduate,” Haslam said.