Meet Richard Truax! GHS Social Studies Teacher

Mr. Truax grew up in Florida, and studied at Florida State University. He did his teacher training at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. He began teaching in 1998, and he’s been a teacher at Garfield since 2002.

This year, Mr. Truax is teaching U.S. History and AP U.S. History, and he says it’s the first year he’s taught students at all one grade level (they are all juniors).

Mr. Truax prefers to call himself a social studies teacher rather than a history teacher, as he thinks of social sciences as a larger discipline, beyond just history. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines social studies as “a part of a school or college curriculum concerned with the study of social relationships and the functioning of society and usually made up of courses in history, government, economics, civics, sociology, geography, and anthropology.” It is through social studies that we as people learn to understand each other, according to Mr. Truax.

In addition to teaching U.S. history, Mr. Truax also advises the Earth Corps club at Garfield, and not surprisingly, he loves to spend time in the outdoors. He’s an avid landscape gardener, and enjoys hiking, canoeing, and walking in our beautiful Seattle parks.

His advice for parents of teens? Mr. Truax said it’s important that parents monitor their students’ electronic use. Many times kids claim to be doing school work on their computers, when they’re actually doing something else, and those interruptions interfere with time management. – Thanks to Kris Morada for this story