Work Experience at Target Influences Alum Chris Cumiford as High School History Teacher

BRANDMAN UNIVERSITY NEWS -- Cumiford, who earned his teaching credential at Brandman’s Visalia campus in 2011 when it was still known as Chapman University College, didn’t initially plan to be a teacher, although both his parents were educators. Instead, he decided to try his luck in business, going to work as an executive team leader at Target after graduating from San Francisco State University. While his Target experience makes him “appreciate every second I have in education,” it also opened his eyes to how intentional design influences behavior, making him think about how it could be used to bring history back to life. “It isn’t just decoration. It’s much more than that. It’s how you come to understand the world,” he said. And to help his students understand the world that existed before they did, he makes it tangible: a gas mask to touch and study while learning about World War I; gargoyles and reproductions of art to understand the medieval world. But there not just pictures i