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- April 26Volume 54, Issue 6, April 25, 2024
History teacher Robbie Hoffman’s classroom is decorated with various different posters and photos. Next to his desk, a multitude of different political posters adorn the space.
A couple of the posters were bought by Hoffman at a print shop in Maui, Hawaii, years ago. He recalls that the print shop is no longer on the island after the Maui fires in August 2023, but the posters serve to remind him of where he got them from. A lot of the posters around Hoffman’s room are from various places he has visited and purchased souvenirs from, but the story behind these are especially meaningful as the store is no longer there.
The posters are examples of historical campaigns and events, so Hoffman makes sure to integrate them into the history classes he teaches.
“We look at political cartoons in US history and AP US History,” Hoffman said. “So I like to put up things around the room that are historical, and that we can analyze from time to time.”
Below the political posters next to Hoffman’s desk, a variety of scribbles and drawings are put up on the wall.
“There are other things in here that have nothing to relate to the history like down here,” Hoffman said. “This is my son's wonderful artwork.”
Hoffman’s son periodically visits his classroom and inquires where his art is, so Hoffman makes sure to put up a wide variety of what his son makes. Notably, the drawing in red, while Hoffman says it might be difficult to tell, is a volcano his son made in school.
Above Hoffman’s desk, there is a framed photo of an old political cartoon drawn by his distant uncle. The relative was a political cartoonist in the United States Navy, and Hoffman can see a variety of the cartoons drawn by him in a navy book he has at home.
This cartoon was saved by Hoffman’s mom’s aunt, who had saved everything done by the cartoonist during her lifetime. Once she passed, Hoffman and his mother were able to find and keep the items. Since Hoffman’s family — excluding himself — is made up of artists, he likes to put up these examples of things they have made.
In a line on the wall behind Hoffman’s desk and on the side of his classroom, a wide variety of hand-drawn name tags with the names of different historical figures are put up.
The name tags are from Hoffman’s time as a World History teacher, which he still taught when he moved into his current classroom seven years ago. In World History, his students would do a project where they would have to dress up as a key figure from the Enlightenment. The drawings were the name tags that each student would wear, and Hoffman recalls that he has had them for around 15 years, putting them up because he thought they looked neat.
While the memories of the project are nice, Hoffman no longer does this project in his classes, so he feels the decorations are a bit outdated.
“I thought they were cool, so I put them up. But I don't teach World History anymore,” Hoffman said. “And they’re still there, since I haven’t gotten to taking them down.”