Robin Mullens is Eagle Tire Pros teacher of the week

By Charlotte Underwood 

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – Teachers make a difference in their students lives each and every day. For many students, having a teacher who cares and goes that extra mile can be the difference in a successful education and graduation. We’ve all had that teacher who inspired us or helped in some way. That’s why WLAF and Eagle Tire Pros salute all of our hard working educators with a weekly feature.

This week’s featured educator is Robin Mullens, who will start her 31st year in teaching this August! She is from Speedwell “and has lived there her whole life.”

Mullens teaches Family and Consumer Sciences, (formerly Home Economics) at Campbell County High School. 

She has taught at both LaFollette Middle School and Jacksboro Middle School before beginning at CCHS in the fall of 2011.

As a student, Mullens attended Valley View Elementary, LaFollette Jr. High and graduated from CCHS in 1984. 

She had several teachers that “made an impression on her as a student growing up.” These included Clayton Ray, Gary Seal, Betty Flatt, Ann Higginbotham, Patty Bocia and Bill Grieve.

“I certainly appreciated the fact that they would think ‘yes, you can’ when I sometimes thought I couldn’t,” Mullens said. 

After high school she graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1988 with a degree in Home Economics Education. 

“I have been married for 34 years to Jim Mullens. We have one son Mitch. He and his wife Beth have given us two grandsons, Levi and Collin,” Mullens said. 

Some of her hobbies include cooking, reading, grocery shopping, gardening and canning.

As a young child Mullens enjoyed cooking and creating food and said that is what drew her to the field of home economics.

“My mother always allowed me to make many messes in the kitchen and taught me the craft of cooking and canning. She was always an outstanding homemaker and teacher. I loved cooking and wanted to pass that on to young people,” Mullens said. 

During that era, home economics was “lots of cooking and sewing.”

“Through the years the subject area has changed along with the times and now the classes I teach are Human Studies, Family Studies, Lifespan Development and Work-Base Learning,” Mullens said.

She “thoroughly” enjoys teaching students “life skills, nutrition, parenting, child development and importance of building a strong family of their own someday.”

“Through my classes I become aware of many issues student’s experience in their family settings today and my hope for them is to build strong families of their own and to become great parents If they choose to be,” Mullens said. 

She also wanted to add that she has “been very fortunate to work with great coworkers throughout her 30 years of teaching.”

Every Thursday, WLAF’s Charlotte Underwood features the WLAF – Eagle Tire Pros teacher of the week. That educator also receives a free oil change from Eagle Tire Pros. To nominate a teacher for teacher of the week honors, please send your nomination to  wlaf@1450wlaf.com (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 06/29/2023-6AM)