WEST MIDDLE School computer education teacher, Franklin Cammack, is a fan of many things, but the Marvel Universe holds a special place on that list. Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk are all heroes with extraordinary abilities who amaze and inspire us. To most people in their worlds, these heroes appear completely ordinary, their true identities known only to a select few.
In many ways, Cammack is a superhero in his own right. His special ability isn’t super strength or the power to fly; it’s the gift of connecting with teenagers every single day and helping them discover strengths they didn’t know they had. He encourages students to try things they might have been too nervous or unsure to attempt on their own, guiding them toward goals that can genuinely change the course of their lives.
Franklin Cammack reaches teens with rare impact. At West Middle School, he teaches, inspires, and quietly transforms lives. Through two decades of dedication to Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and genuine care for each student, he’s helped young people believe in themselves and grow into future leaders one moment at a time.
Since high school, Cammack has been involved in what is now known as FBLA. That involvement with the organization would lead him to a career in teaching.
“When I was in high school, I was involved in an organization called Business Professionals of America, which here in the state of Tennessee has now changed over to Future Business Leaders of America,” he explained. “I was involved with that organization as a high schooler and through college. I wanted to continue working with these organizations and to be able to do FBLA. To do that, I had to become a business teacher.”
Cammack spent 12 years at Grundy High School, where he revitalized a struggling FBLA chapter and turned it into a comeback story filled with student success.
“When I first got to Grundy, that organization wasn’t in the best shape,” he said. “They were very unreliable as a school, especially at competitions. However, within my first year having control of it, in my second year of teaching, I ended up having a national winner.”
Word spread quickly. Over the next decade, Grundy’s FBLA program will celebrate eight national winners, three national championships, and multiple state officers representing Tennessee. When Cammack later accepted a position as a computer technology teacher at West Middle School in 2014, administrators didn’t hesitate to give him the green light to start an FBLA chapter at the middle school and to assist at Tullahoma High School as well.
Middle school, however, brought a new kind of challenge. “They are a different breed,” he laughed. “Every day is an adventure. With the high schoolers, you know what to expect daily with them, but at middle school, you never know what you’re going to get day to day. But there are so many real-life teachable moments that occur that I’m able to take some time and work through them with the students. It’s those real-life moments of getting to teach that, that’s pretty cool about the middle school level.”
As a related arts teacher, he theoretically sees every student in the building, and he treats that responsibility with intention.
“I teach all three grade levels, and I will usually have every single kid in the building over the course of the school year. When they come in as 6th graders, we spend a good week getting to know each other, them getting to know me, who I am, and me finding out what their hobbies and interests are. They take a learning style profile for me so I can figure out the best way that they learn. Because, as I tell them, ‘we’re going to be together for the next three years.’ I need to know who they are.”
While his individualized approach has evolved, Cammack’s honesty, openness, and genuine care have always been there. To his credit, his FBLA programs at both the middle and high school levels continued to grow, even as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted competitions nationwide.
“We were kind of derailed by COVID,” he said. “As we started to really build, I thought this was going to be a great chapter, and then COVID hit in-person competitions. For that 2020 season, we only had one middle school student in the state, and one who was able to compete nationally. What was cool was that it was one of mine, because of some prejudged stuff we were able to have sent in before everything hit. He wound up being a national winner during that virtual conference.”
That unexpected victory became a spark.
“From there, it just built, and I was like, ‘well, we had one national winner when we couldn’t be together and work. Imagine what we can do when we’re together.’”
When in‑person conferences resumed in 2022, his students earned five national wins. In 2023, they brought home six. Cammack added that the connection with the students was the success of the program.
“Finding the thing that fits them,” he said. “That comes from getting to know those students, finding out, okay, what is your passion? What are your strengths? It’s a great feeling because I know that they’re going to be more passionate about what they are doing.”
Beyond trophies and titles, he believes FBLA gives students something deeper.
“It helps develop their leadership skills. First and foremost, it brings this sense of accomplishment,” he added.
Now in his 20th year of teaching, Cammack said he hopes each student who crosses his classroom threshold remembers him as a person, not just a teacher.
“I hope they remember that I was real,” he said. “That I was not just a teacher. I was a real person who took an interest, listened, and tried to take care of them.” GN
