Gerald “Jerry” Halfmann, Faculty 1976-2011
Educator and Coach

Jerry Halfmann has changed the lives of thousands of Badgers for the better in his 30 years at THS. Kate Donovan states, “it has been a pleasure being his student, his student teacher and presently his co-worker in the Photography Department at Tucson High.” The task of trying to describe why Jerry deserves to be honored in the Hall of Fame is a challenging one because the list of his accomplishments goes on forever. His students have earned thousands of awards from across the world, country and state. At the local level, ‘Half’ as he is affectionately known, is a legend. His program has been honored as the best in the country by the Bessler/Agfa Association. His students continue to win first place year after year in both state and national Vocational Industrial Clubs of America contests. His students consistently find great jobs in the photography field after graduation. Besides being great photography students, Half inspires his students to be good people. Mr. Halfmann has been, for many students, their most important teacher. He planted the seed in me to want to be a teacher, to continue his life long goal of helping others. Half is able to take a wandering young mind and give it direction or in photographic terms, focus. In his reign as leader of the photo empire at THS, he has continued the long-standing tradition of leading the pack in innovative teaching strategies. He has also served as our cross-country coach for 30 years. It is appropriate that he coaches cross-country because cross-country is all about endurance. Half teaches all of his students and his co-workers about ‘stick-to-itiveness’ and consistency. He has consistently gone above and beyond, all in the name of better serving the students of Tucson High School. He teaches our students how to be not only excellent photographers but better people.