Middle school teacher takes holiday look to new level

You might not think a holiday sweatshirt is fashion-forward, but then you’re not Tamra Huffman. The eighth grade American history teacher has a little tradition that has blown up in a big way at Harrisburg North Middle School.

For the past five years, the week after the Thanksgiving break, she puts on her maroon Harrisburg Tigers holiday sweatshirt for work. And then she keeps wearing it. Every day. Until someone finally asks her about it.

“I just had this crazy idea of why don’t I just wear this really ugly, cheesy Harrisburg Christmas sweatshirt every day until someone says something to me,” Huffman said.

It takes longer than you might think: Last year, she made it 22 school days before a student — and it has to be a student — said something.

“It was almost mid-January until someone said something to me,” Huffman said. “It was this girl, and she was like, ‘Miss Huffman, I think you’ve been wearing this sweatshirt quite a bit.’”

She starts laughing. She thinks the students notice sooner, but either they like the game or they’re too polite to say something – if you know middle school kids, we’re guessing it’s the former, though she calls the person who says something the “one brave soul.”

“Once someone calls me out on it, I have to go back to wearing normal, boring teacher clothes.”

After that happens, students start to comment on how they did notice. “One kid was really concerned about me, and she thought maybe my washing machine broke, and that’s why I kept wearing the same outfit,” Huffman said.

For Huffman, it’s a way to bring a little joy to what can be a challenging season.

“It’s important to be silly and have fun in the classroom, and that’s also my personality,” Huffman said. “This time of year can be stressful – we’re getting toward the end of the semester, people are tired, there’s the time change, and the weather is changing. I thought it would be a fun little thing to add to my classroom.”

Turns out, it was a fun thing to add to the whole school, which is in south Sioux Falls.

“So it started with me, and I told my principal about it, and he just thought it was hilarious. Now, other staff members have these same sweatshirts, and they also will be wearing it in the building to see how long their contests can last.”

It’s just one way to get through the holidays.

“Teachers, we are a rare breed, especially middle school teachers,” Huffman said. “We are dealing with emotions, drama, and we also have to teach math and history at the same time with juggling all of this. Anything we can do to brighten our day and have an extra giggle or an extra laugh is a good thing.”

And, incidentally, Huffman also happens to be an award-winning teacher. She was named the 2021 South Dakota History Teacher of the Year, an award presented annually by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, an organization dedicated to K-12 American history education.

Last year, she made it just over three weeks in the sweatshirt, almost double the year before.

“I make jokes that I might be wearing this sweatshirt in the middle of summer,” Huffman said. “I’m on Day Two this year, and nobody has said anything.”

And while she posts it on Facebook and her friends and colleagues know about it, maybe don’t show this story to your Harrisburg middle school student. There’s always room for a little wonder during the holidays.