Eric Hahn

Incoming CHS history teacher Eric Hahn has about 80,000 bees in his backyard, from which he has collected over 160 pounds of honey this year.
“My interest [in bees] started in high school,” Hahn said. “I was at a party and the owner had an observation hive against their kitchen window, and I was just fascinated by the bees. I thought about it on and off until six or seven years ago, when it sounded pretty easy to start beekeeping. So my hobby is backyard beekeeping now.”
While his interest in beekeeping began in high school, his interest in teaching did not. However, after having worked with an outdoors education program with kids in college, Hahn discovered that he actually liked working with the students much more than the outdoor education piece.
“I did a little inventory on myself, and social studies was definitely the best fit for me in terms of competency and interest,” Hahn said. “So I went back and got a master’s in teaching, and that’s how it all evolved.”
Hahn first started teaching at Metropolitan High School, which no longer exists, as a special education teacher. However, he was forced to give up the position after three years, as he found out that he was constantly in burnout mode and he was taking on burdens too heavy for him at the moment.
“I love special education personally, but I realized that it was very challenging for me,” Hahn said. “Which is why I have so much respect for special education and special education teachers now.”
For the next 27 years, Hahn taught mostly Advanced Placement US History and Advanced Placement World History at Ladue Horton Watkins High School until his retirement in 2017.
Aside from teaching, Hahn works on curriculum writing for publishers, and he holds professional development and teacher workshops.

“It’s a little bit weird for me to not be teaching in my own classroom while doing those things, so it’s a win win [when Clayton] offered me this position,” Hahn said. “Clayton wanted a part time teacher for World History, and I wanted my own classroom. And I’m still loving the profession.”
Since classes are moved online for the first part of the school year, there are many new challenges for teachers to adjust their curriculum to the online format. Hahn, however, is very excited for the new year to begin.
“I have lots of fun ideas for working online; [ways to] engage students and make our classes relevant to the current world,” Hahn said.
As a history teacher, Hahn believes that a subject should be, first of all, enjoyable, it should be relevant, and it should have the right amount of challenge.
“My hope is that with social studies, students can become global engaged citizens,” Hahn said. “This understanding is what keeps me in teaching.”