Challenger

Mr. Heffelfinger has been a part of Apollo for over a decade. He has been teaching for thirty-two years. He taught at Burns Middle School for twenty years and has been at Apollo for twelve years.

He teaches mostly the junior survey course in American history at both the comprehensive levels. He also teaches an elective on the Civil War. He started the course to satisfy some of his students who wanted a more in-depth study of this critical period than was given in the survey class. He has also taught some government, economics, and current issues classes. . He loves to teach history. He says, “ My favorite parts of history to teach are the Constitution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights Movement. All these events fascinate me.”

Mr. Heffelfinger was raised in Owensboro. He attended Owensboro High School and got his bachelors, masters, and Rank I at Western Kentucky.

He is married to his wife Creda and they have two children. He has a daughter, Nancy, who is twenty-three. He also has a son, Dayton Jr., who is nineteen.

He coaches the girls’ golf team and is the assistant athletic director. At Burns Middle School, he coached football , boys’ and girls’ basketball.

He says, “I have terrific memories, mostly centered on the friendships I’ve developed. Some of my fondest moments have been when the girls’ golf team won the regional championship in 1998 and placed 9th in the state. Another memory is from 1998, when Sarah Ann Sanders was regional champion and this year when Gabrielle Murphy was also champion.”

Paul Palmer, a junior, says, “ Mr. Heffelfinger was so enthusiastic about the subject he was teaching. You could really tell that he loved to teach about the Civil War and the Reconstruction process that took place after the war was over. I think that I have learned more about the Civil War in his class than I did in all of my other history classes.