Batman Enthusiast takes over Theatre

Mr. Kyle Hammonds is new to KHS this year. He teaches Theatre, Technical Theatre, and Professional Communications. This is Mr. Hammonds first year as a full time high school teacher. He previously worked as an instructor in the Department of Communication Studies where he taught Intro to Human Communication. Interpersonal Communications, Performance of Literature, and a special section on Batman. “As part of my graduate degree program at UNT, I researched narrative theory and popular culture-usually as related to comic books. I was also teaching various communication related courses simultaneously. One of my teaching responsibilities was to instruct the basic (introductory) communication studies course. I noticed that students were sometimes having a difficult time applying communication theory to concrete examples and that the vagueness of these theoretical discussions sometimes resulted in tense interpersonal relationships in the class. During my second year at UNT, I introduced a Batman theme to my intro to human communications classes in an attempt to solve the afore-mentioned difficulties.”, He said. Mr.Hammonds classes read Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One,” along with select other short comics and special readings (including selections from McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” and Langley’s “Batman and Psychology”). “Batman is a highly symbolic and psychologically driven character, making his stories ideal for classes in communication which rely on studying signs, symbols, and how/why individuals behave in dyads and groups.”, He said. Essentially Mr. Hammonds classes would have a Batman case study to refer to each week and they would practice applying communication theory to the fictional context of the comic before also looking for true-life applications. “Although I do not situate entire classes at Krum HS in Batman stories, I still refer to popular culture case studies whenever I can (including Batman).”, He said. If anyone is interested in more information on teaching with popular stories Mr.Hammonds will be lecturing with Dr.Karen Anderson-Lain on Popular Culture Pedagogy at the Midwest Popular Culture Association convention in October. Additionally, Dr. Anderson-lain and Mr.Hammonds have an upcoming publication on teaching with popular culture in the Popular Culture Studies Journal, in which he explicitly reference his time teaching with Batman. This coming Spring, major bookstores will also pick up “The X-files and Philosophy,” in which he has a chapter examining pop culture. Mr. Hammonds went to Royse City High School, where he did a lot of extracurricular classes. He was involved in Debate (Lincoln-Douglas), Theatre (One - Act Play), and Video Production (Business Professionals of America). Mr. Hammonds didn’t do a lot after school, but his fascination with movies grew while he was in high school. He also didn’t do any sports in high school, but he was involved with weight training and soccer for P.E credits. Mr. Hammonds' favorite class was Theatre. Mr. Hammonds went to Texas A&M University in Commerce (Speech/Communications) for his undergraduate degree. He also went to The University of North Texas for his Master's degree (Communication Studies). Mr. Hammonds graduated from Texas A&M in 2013. He graduated from The University of North Texas in 2016. Mr. Hammonds has taught at many places, including The University of North Texas, where he worked as a university instructor. He has also taught at Royse City High School, Crandall High School, and Caddo Mills High School as a substitute teacher and/or part time lecturer/ debate coach. Mr. Hammonds had a lot of role models growing up. “My mom and brother set really great examples in perseverance and kindness,” he said. “I learned a lot about ethics and personal responsibility from superheroes (particularly Batman).” He also thinks that some good role models for today’s youth are superheroes, parents, Church leaders, and close friends. Mr. Hammonds says his Krum experience has been, “So far, so good.” He is looking forward to class discussions with his students and working on theatre performances.