From kinesiology to political science, new social studies teacher enriches classroom with life experiences

Photo by Zack Zhang

Toby Remmers teaching about the Columbian Exchange to his 5th period AP U.S. History class.

While juniors walked into their AP U.S. History class in Room 701 recently, new social studies and MAP 10 teacher Toby Remmers handed out little paper slips with images of either an agricultural or mineral item on them. The day’s topic was the Columbian Exchange, and Remmers set up stations around the room for them to discover where their item was originally from and how the Columbian Exchange brought them from the opposite side of the world. 

Interesting and highly interactive lessons like this are the results of Remmers’s varied background and six previous years of teaching at Mission San José High School.

Though he started as an international business major at San Diego State University, a near-fatal car accident when he was in his early 20s caused him to question his life goals. So, knowing how fragile the human body can be, he changed his major to kinesiology, the study of both anatomical and neuropsychological principles in the mechanisms of movement. 

Yet, just a year after switching to kinesiology, he found a new interest in history and changed his major to study political science. 

“When I looked at the world around me in my 20s and started to realize how our lives are connected to the history before us, the idea that we have some kind of agency or role to play in the world to bring societal change intrigued me,” Remmers said. 

After graduating from college, Remmers spent almost a year traveling around the world to see the various countries and regions he studied in class, exploring first-hand their histories and politics. 

During his time in Central America (Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala), Europe (France, Switzerland and Iceland), the Middle East (Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Turkey) and Hawaii (Oahu and Kauaii), Remmers learned how different political systems affected people’s daily lives. 

For example, he saw a protest taking place at a historical site in Honduras because the local people felt that they weren’t benefiting from tourism and were fed up with the political corruption there. Remmers was fascinated by present day issues related to the history he studied in college, namely the late ‘60s and ’70s Honduras and Middle East civil wars that led to the unstable society and economy today. 

The journey not only solidified Remmers’s love in history and social studies, but also inspired him to pass down his knowledge and share the newly formed views he experienced during his travels. 

After returning to the U.S., Remmers moved from his hometown in Minnesota to Michigan before eventually coming to the Bay Area, after being intrigued by the positive experiences of his friends who had previously lived here. Remmers got his job as a history teacher at Mission San José High School in 2016 and later also started teaching a film elective class there. 

Although he has six years of teaching under his belt, Remmers still recalls how much his lifestyle changed when he became a full-time high school teacher. 

“Before I started to teach, I’ve had jobs that are very isolated, where you just have a task to do and don’t interact much with other people,” he said. “And I’ve had other jobs that are either more physically labor-oriented or intellectual at a desk on a computer. I think teaching is in some ways individual because you are the only adult in a classroom, but one thing that’s cool about Saratoga High is that there’s a lot of friendly connections and warm support between departments and teachers.”

Remmers particularly finds gratification when former students visit him to provide a life update and reflect on how his classes influenced their growth. Thanks to Remmers’s unique life experiences that enrich his teaching style, students find his lessons more comprehensible and relatable to real life. Though he has been studying history for many years, Remmers still finds himself learning new things every year. 

“History repeats itself yearly,” Remmers said. “There’s always something I can pull out every year and go back to make those same lessons richer. There’s no perfection in teaching; I believe it is a skill that you should try to become the best that you can be.”