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Dr. Daphne Huntley – NACC Faculty
Spotlight
“Teaching – It’s the Family Business”
The heart and soul of any college is its faculty. When it comes
to faculty, Northeast Alabama Community College simply has the
best. Highlighted here is one such dedicated professional who
gives unselfishly of her time both in and outside of the
classroom.
 Dr.
Daphne Huntley has been a full-time English Instructor at
Northeast Alabama Community College since 1997. In addition, she
also is the co-sponsor of the award-winning NACC Quiz Team. She
holds a BS and MEd from Auburn University and a JD from the
University of Akron.
Attending college after high school was
expected for Huntley. Her sisters and her brother (all older
than she) had gone to college. “I had been exposed to college
environments from a young age, and going to college was part of
the natural progression,” she said. Being the youngest of five,
no less was expected of her than the rest. “I went to Auburn
University to get out from under the shadow of my sisters and
brother, and I blazed my own trail.”
Huntley chose teaching because “it is the
family business, I suppose, in my family,” she explained. Her
mother went to Alabama A&M as a non-traditional student and
taught elementary school in Calhoun County for almost 30 years.
Her oldest sister is retired from teaching elementary school in
Randolph County. Several of her first cousins in Ohio are
teachers; her sister-in-law is an elementary school teacher in
Indiana, and her brother is an engineering professor. “I think
it’s in the blood!” she added.
“I enjoy teaching at Northeast because of the firm values that
are upheld here; they seem to have been lost in so many other
parts of the country,” said Huntley. She believes that at
Northeast, teaching matters, students matter. “At other
institutions where I taught, students didn’t matter; writing
books mattered, presenting at conferences mattered, committee
meetings and reports mattered. Teaching was what happened
between self-promotion opportunities.” She believes that at
Northeast, teaching—how many students are passing the classes,
how many students are going on for further study, how many
students are successful at senior institutions, how many
students gain employment in their fields—matters most. “Teachers
at Northeast are encouraged to go for broke and give their all.”
She describes teaching as a love of adventure. “No two students
are the same; no two classes are the same. I can teach the same
writing skill from one year to the next, and two different
groups of students will respond entirely differently.” The other
thing she loves about teaching is the feeling that she’s making
a difference. “I can think of so many teachers and community
leaders and pastors who took time to advise me and help me and
provide opportunities for me,” she insisted. “I love the feeling
that I’m passing those blessings on to others.”
In advising her students, Huntley asks them to make sure they
have the patience and desire to work with the age group they’re
planning to teach. “Some students want to teach because they
didn’t make it into another program such as nursing or
engineering. But I think teaching is just as demanding and just
as important, and I try to stress that to students considering
teaching as a career.”
Huntley acknowledges that students today have access to much
more technology than in the past. They move at a much faster
pace and face much greater demands on their time and energies
than she did as a college student. “However, some things never
change,” she said. “Students today, as in the past, are smitten
with a dream for a better life, a better world. Students today
still must open themselves to the changes required in order for
them to become effective professionals; they have to learn to
think for themselves; they have to develop confidence and new
skills. Now, as then, they have to learn to choose the paths
that will bring their goals to fruition.”
She believes that values don’t just stop with the college
though. “My experience has been that so many Northeast students
come from homes where the students have learned to respect
authority, to treat others as they would want to be treated, to
take responsibility for their lives and their choices. These
values make working with students a joy rather than torture.”
When addressing personal accomplishments, Huntley said, “To be
honest, I really don’t think in terms of accomplishment. So
little of what is on my résumé is my own individual effort. I am
the product of people who did not hesitate to guide, advise,
encourage or reprimand the young people with whom they worked. I
am the product of two parents who didn’t make excuses or accept
them readily; they gave their best; they expected our best. I am
the product of universities that put forth money and manpower to
nurture the students and send those students forth, confident in
their abilities. So when I look over my achievements, I just see
opportunities and gratitude for those opportunities.”
Huntley’s favorite role model was Dr. Terry Ley, who was her
English Education professor at Auburn University. “He was as
close to perfection as anyone I’ve ever met, but he was also the
most encouraging professional. He always reached for the stars
and believed his students could reach the stars, too. He is a
masterful example of what excellent teaching should be.” Ley
encouraged her to work on her master’s and helped her get a
teaching assistantship as a graduate student at Auburn. He
encouraged her to apply for a teaching position at Northeast.
“Some professors like to give students the impression that they
(the students) can never reach the heights that the professors
have reached. But Dr. Ley wanted his students to achieve even
more than he did. I will be forever grateful to him.”
William Shakespeare and John Keats are Huntley’s favorite
writers, both British authors who, centuries later, speak so
clearly even today about the issues that still challenge us. “Of
late, I’ve been reading the books of Philipa Gregory, who wrote
The Other Boleyn Girl. Gregory has written several fictional
books based on English royal history. She and I don’t agree on
Katherine of Aragon or Anne Boleyn, but she is a thorough
researcher and an accomplished story teller.”
A favorite quote of Huntley’s is from the Bible, Romans 12:2,
which says, “Don’t be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind….” Huntley believes so
much of what does or does not happen to us or for us starts in
our minds, and we have the choice to control our minds, our
thoughts, our attitudes, our goals, our limitations. “I surely
have not accomplished the ‘renewed mind,’ but it’s on my list,”
she said.
When asked to comment on a particular national headline of
today, Huntley said, “I’ve thought a lot about what the election
of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States
means. I’m surprised at how skeptical I was that he would
succeed, but fortunately a lot of other people—white and
black—did believe and brought it to reality. President Obama
faces some enormous problems, but after what the American people
accomplished in November 2008, I am more confident that we can
resolve this economic crisis and create a bright future for
everyone.”
Reflecting on her background Huntley offered, “I have in my home
a picture of my parents on their wedding day in 1942. At that
time, my mother and father were both in their twenties and
neither had a high school diploma. Both had had to drop out of
high school to help their families during the Depression. In the
picture, they have determined, serious faces, but in real life,
they were full of hope and bright dreams.” Her father worked in
the shipyard at Monsanto in Anniston. Her mother got her
bachelor’s degree and taught elementary school. They sent five
children to college (all of whom now have degrees), mostly on
the couple’s own earnings. All of her parents’ eleven
grandchildren completed high school by the age of 19--most of
them have college degrees and professional careers.
Huntley’s parents have been her greatest influences. “They had a
wisdom and purity that I think is hard to find today. Certainly,
I find it hard to live up to their example. My father died of
cancer in 1981, but he taught me so much about the importance of
keeping your word and doing what you say you’re going to do. He
wasn’t rich or high-powered, but he gave his family his time and
attention; he didn’t hold back. He’d take us fishing or riding
in the family car. He didn’t talk a whole lot, but what he said,
I’ve come to discover, was golden. He loved sports, and when we
kids would complain about a referee’s bad call or a coach’s
error, he would always say, ‘Don’t make excuses; you should be
better than anybody’s error.’”
Huntley stated that her mom influenced by example. “She managed
a family, a household and a full-time job, and didn’t complain.
She emphasized the importance of counting our blessings and
making the most of whatever opportunities we were given.” She
added, “My dad and mom didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about
what other people thought of them; they weren’t trying to outdo
the neighbors or impress their friends. Whatever they did seemed
to come out of love and commitment to their family. Family time
was always their top priority.”
Huntley has two daughters, Allison, who graduated from the
University of Montevallo in 2008, and Meredith, who is a
sophomore at Jacksonville State University.
For more information about the NACC faculty, see the
Faculty-Staff Directory and
follow the name links to individual pages. |
