If there’s one word that defines Chris Johnson’s life, it’d probably be history.

Since childhood, Johnson has always been interested in history, often spending his free time nose-deep in history books. Now, as a history teacher at Gunn, he uses his passion to encourage students’ interest in the subject.

“As a student, [Johnson’s] passion for [history] makes me more interested in his lessons,” Gunn junior Tess Bogart said. “His knowledge makes history so much more interesting when you can sense his enthusiasm.”

As a middle schooler, Johnson’s imagination fueled his love for history, particularly when he and his friends would put on their own recreations of famous historical battles.

“We would ride our bikes and pretend we were airplanes zooming in and out of each other,” Johnson said. “There was always that imagination aspect that made [history] interesting.”

In eighth grade, Johnson’s love for history grew even more in his social studies teacher Ron Smith’s classroom.

“He was passionate, he was personally invested in the course and he just made it fun,” Johnson said. “When you have a teacher who really knows or enjoys their subject, they get this sparkle in their eyes, and he had that sparkle.”

Johnson looked up to Smith as a role model and mentor, often visiting him after school to discuss their interests, such as history and sports. Smith’s sincere interest in Johnson’s career and overall well-being propelled Johnson to pursue a career in teaching history.

Unexpectedly, Johnson was diagnosed with leukemia in his senior year of high school. The experience led him to develop a sense of empathy for understanding personal struggles outside of school.

“[Johnson is] always really willing to listen to students, and if you need something like an extension on an assignment, he’s very understanding and is willing to accommodate,” junior Nia Porter said.

Johnson was lucky enough to receive a bone marrow transplant the following summer, leaving him cancer-free.

“[The experience] woke me up to my own mortality,” Johnson said. “I wanted to try to do as many things as I possibly could no matter how much time I had remaining, and that’s where I really spent a lot of time focusing on my passions.”

Johnson later went to UC Davis for college, where he majored in history. During this time, Johnson revisited Smith at his old middle school in San Jose, where he periodically taught Smith’s class about life as a soldier during the Civil War.

Johnson’s early classroom experience with middle school students led him to a clear conclusion: he wanted to become a history teacher. And not just any ordinary teacher, but one that, like Smith, inspired students to discover their love for history.

After graduating college, Johnson delved into Civil War reenactments to gain insight into life in the 19th century, sparking a passion for research about the war and life in the 1800s.

“I found that it ignited a whole new interest in doing deeper research, not just into Civil War battles, but also in the equipment, uniforms and reading diaries of soldiers to find out what they were doing,” Johnson said. “[The research] manifested itself into depriving yourself of a lot of the creature comforts we have today and trying to live an 1860s life.”

As a descendant of a World War II veteran, Johnson honors his grandfathers through World War II battle reenactments, connecting with other veterans who shared stories of their time in combat with each other.

In his classroom, Johnson said he tries to create a welcoming environment by sharing personal stories. Junior Jonathan Pan feels Johnson creates this positive environment by telling students about the various historical museums and attractions he’s been to, adding a layer of engagement to the class.

“I feel pretty close to [Johnson], not because we share a lot of things in common, but because he talks about his life and his travels with us,” Pan said. “He tells us about his visits to museums and history attractions, which helps me understand and connect with him better.”

Even though Johnson has enjoyed teaching for the past 20 years at Gunn, he sees himself retiring sometime in the next decade to focus on living history, historical reenactments and potentially narrating audiobooks.

“I love talking about history, and I love getting students interested in it as well,” Johnson said. “The one thing that keeps me going through this job is getting to work with history every single day.”