When Scott Witt enrolled at the University of Tennessee in 1984, he thought he was going to be an engineer. There was just one problem.
“It turns out you have to be really good at math,” Scott jokes.
Engineering soon gave way to history, but even then, Scott wasn’t quite sure where a history degree would take him. His parents wondered the same thing. Eventually, though, the answer became surprisingly clear.
Scott thought about the people who had made the greatest impact on his own life. Many of them were teachers and coaches. They had taught him much more than what could be found in a textbook or learned on an athletic field. They had invested in him personally, modeled their faith and shown him what it looked like to live intentionally and with purpose.
Scott realized he wanted to do the same.
More than three decades later, after a career that has taken him from classrooms and athletic fields to school administration and even outside of education for a time, that calling has brought him to Knoxville Christian School as a Social Studies and Computer Science teacher.
And Scott couldn’t be more thankful to be here.
When Teaching Becomes a Ministry
Scott completed his education degree in 1988 and began teaching at Washburn School in Grainger County, a rural K-12 school where he taught middle school social studies and coached athletics. This was the beginning of a career in which teaching and coaching would frequently go hand in hand.
In the early 1990s, Scott moved to Knox County, where he spent years teaching social studies and coaching. Athletics had always been an important part of his own life, and he saw coaching as another opportunity to invest in young people. Along the way, he even helped launch soccer and wrestling programs at Gibbs High School.
For Scott, though, education was never simply a career. He saw it as a ministry.
One of the people who helped shape that perspective was his own high school math teacher and football coach, Larry Phillips. Scott remembers Phillips as an engaging teacher who didn’t limit his conversations with students to calculus or football. He wanted to know about their lives.
Phillips was also involved with Young Life, a Christian ministry focused on building relationships with young people. Scott saw firsthand what it looked like for someone to live out his Christianity naturally and consistently. That example stayed with him.
Scott graduated from high school in 1984, but he and Phillips still talk today. Decades later, Scott hopes to offer his own students that same kind of meaningful influence.
From the Classroom to Leadership and Back Again
In 2002, Scott stepped into a new chapter when he became Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at Bearden High School.
He spent roughly a decade in administration before circumstances eventually returned him to the classroom, including a period teaching at Fulton High School. It was a season of significant professional and personal change, and ultimately Scott stepped away from education for a time, working in sales and healthcare, but something was missing. Teaching.
Although Scott eventually accumulated enough years of service to officially retire from Tennessee public education, retirement didn’t feel much like the ending he wanted. He still had something to give.
So he returned to the classroom, taking temporary teaching positions at Halls and Hardin Valley before spending the past school year at Loudon High School, filling in for a teacher on maternity leave. When that teacher returned, Scott’s next opportunity appeared and it was Knoxville Christian School.
“I’m very thankful God put me at KCS,” he says.
The Freedom to Bring Faith Into the Classroom
KCS represents something new for Scott.
Nearly all of his career has been spent in public education. At Knoxville Christian School, he has discovered an environment where his experience, subject matter and faith don’t have to exist separately. He saw that difference clearly while teaching a recent government lesson.
Instead of merely mentioning the Christian influences woven throughout particular individuals, ideas and historical movements, Scott can explore those connections more fully with his students. For someone who has always viewed teaching as part of his ministry, that matters.
“It’s nice to come to a place where I can express my faith,” Scott says.
He can also bring his own life experiences and faith journey into classroom conversations in ways he wasn’t able to before.
There are other differences he appreciates, too. Smaller class sizes allow him to know students more personally, and he describes KCS as a place where he feels free to simply be himself. Most importantly, he says, “The kids are great.”
A History Teacher in a Computer Science Classroom
Spend a little time talking with Scott, and his love of history becomes obvious. He readily describes himself as a history nerd and happily spends his free time watching documentaries. Colonial America and the Revolutionary War are particular favorites.
What fascinates him about that era isn’t simply a collection of battles and dates. It is the story of people coming together around a common purpose and attempting something extraordinarily difficult: creating a system of government that expanded the ability of ordinary citizens to participate.
That curiosity and enthusiasm naturally make their way into his classroom. But this year, Scott has another subject on his schedule – computer science.
After adding his computer science credentials last year, Scott now teaches two Introduction to Computer Science classes at KCS using a Pearson curriculum. He laughs that he is essentially “a social studies teacher disguised as a computer science teacher.” It may be an unexpected combination, but it also reflects something important about Scott: even after decades in education, he is still willing to learn something new.
A Classroom That Looks a Little Like Scott
Scott admits classroom decorating isn’t exactly his specialty. Still, students will find plenty of clues about their teacher when they look around the room. There are a few Boston Celtic touches, some Boston Red Sox memorabilia, Revolutionary-era flags and references to one of his favorite ways to spend time outdoors: fly fishing.
Outside school, Scott and his wife, a nurse practitioner in Farragut, enjoy traveling. Their adventures have taken them to Jamaica, Rome, Greece and Turkey, while closer-to-home destinations like Asheville and Hot Springs, North Carolina, make for favorite getaways.
They also share a love of SEC football, although coming from different SEC schools means game days can occasionally make things interesting at home!
Scott is also a father of four: three sons and a daughter. His oldest son works at Oak Ridge National Laboratory after graduating from Carson-Newman University, another son works as an HVAC specialist, his daughter is studying at Pellissippi State and is interested in graphic design, and his youngest son recently graduated at the age of 17 and is excitedly exploring what possibilities he has.
Finding Purpose in the Next Chapter
Scott turns 60 this year, although he jokes that part of him still feels like he could put on football pads and head back onto the field. His love of life and making a difference is evident, he wants to keep contributing, learning, and investing in students. After experiencing difficult seasons and unexpected career turns, Scott says one thing has become increasingly clear: teaching continues to be his calling.
At KCS, he has found a place where that calling can continue with faith at the center.
He describes the school as an intentional community and has quickly developed an appreciation for the people behind it. He sees KCS President Bobby Simpson as a visionary leader who works tirelessly to move the school forward, while he describes Mr. Ford as the “nuts and bolts” person who seems able to do just about anything.
More broadly, Scott has been impressed by the culture and his fellow teachers.
For a man whose own career began because great teachers and coaches took the time to invest in him, there is something fitting about this chapter. More than 40 years after Scott first arrived at UT thinking he might become an engineer, he is still doing what ultimately captured his heart: teaching, mentoring and helping young people understand both the world around them and their own place within it.
And this time, he gets to do it in a school where his faith can be part of the conversation. For Scott, KCS isn’t simply another stop in a long career.
It is an opportunity to keep living out the calling that started it all.
Come See What Makes KCS Different
At Knoxville Christian School, students are more than a name on a class list. From our littlest learners in Early Learning through our graduating seniors, we want every student to be known, encouraged and given room to grow academically, socially and spiritually.
Teachers like Kelly are a big part of what makes that possible. They bring experience, creativity, faith and a genuine love for their students into the classroom every day.
If you’re looking for a school where your child can learn in a caring, Christ-centered community, we’d love to show you around.