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Chesapeake High’s Coach Tully shares The Black Superhero Experience

By Team BCPS

February 15^th, 2022

Teacher, coach, Original Black Nerd

Like many of the superheroes he collects, Coach Tully Sullivan at Chesapeake High School has a secret identity. Only in Coach Tully’s case, it isn’t quite so secret.

At Chesapeake High, Coach Tully teaches Foundations of Computer Science and Principles of Business Management and Accounting and serves as assistant varsity football coach and head junior varsity coach for girls’ basketball and softball.

Chesapeake High’s Coach Tully shares The Black Superhero Experience

Sharing the history of African American superheroes

His other identity is that of the Original Black Nerd, a title he claims with great pride. It is as the Original Black Nerd that, during Black History Month, Coach Tully is sharing his collection of African American superheroes with the Chesapeake High community through a display in the school’s library media center. Each week of the display has a theme: Week 1 – Marvel; Week 2 – DC Comics; Week 3 – Independent Authors; and Week 4 – Women.

“I’m so excited to have Tully’s collection in the library,” says Lashon Smiley-Moseley, Chesapeake’s library media specialist. “It’s very popular with the students and staff. More students are checking out books as a result of visiting the exhibit. In addition, we are planning our own Comic-Con in the spring. We want to include some of the other teachers in the building who also have collections. Coach Tully is leading this project, too.”

“It’s very popular with the students and staff. More students are checking out books as a result of visiting the exhibit.” -- Lashon Smiley-Moseley

The collection is also highlighted in videos on the school’s Bayhawk News Network (BNN). “My television broadcasting classes create a daily BNN Show for the school and community,” says LJ Foust, television broadcasting and multimedia teacher. “The show disseminates announcements and spotlights any positive items within the school and community. Coach Tully's segments were a major item I wanted our show to cover during Black History Month.”

“Coach Tully's segments were a major item I wanted our show to cover during Black History Month.” -- LJ Foust

Students often chat with Coach Tully about his collection as he works on his display, in their classes, on his teams, and when he is doing coverage or in the hall.

How it all began

“I started my collection about three years ago after seeing a Black comic book exhibit in the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture,” Coach Tully says. “I wanted to give a more comprehensive look at The Black Superhero Experience. My African American collection has around 3,500 pieces. The collection includes comic books, movie posters, graphic novels, action figures, Funko Pops, trading cards, and assorted novelties. I also have about 1,000 non-Black comic books mainly the Batman family.” Coach Tully notes that when he began reading comics at age 7 in 1964, there were no Black superheroes. He says he has watched every superhero/action movie since the 1960s.

“My African American collection has around 3,500 pieces. The collection includes comic books, movie posters, graphic novels, action figures, Funko Pops, trading cards, and assorted novelties.” -- Coach Tully

Beyond what he is doing at Chesapeake High this month, Coach Tully shares his collection on the Original Black Nerd Collection website and through a traveling exhibit.

He dubs himself the Original Black Nerd based primarily on his lifelong interest in technology. Coach Tully has always been an early adopter of technology and notes that he owned the first IBM personal computer and first Atari, is active on social media, and has built several websites. He is in the process of automating his house.

He started programming computers in 1973 as a junior in high school. After attending Lincoln University, he started working as a computer programmer and data security analyst. After completing a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management, he worked as a computer consultant.

Finding his way to teaching

After multiple other work experiences, Coach Tully became an educator at age 50 and refers to it as his “10th career.”

“My experiences have included working in many corporate, manufacturing, small business (professional services and retail), tech, nonprofit, and now education environments,” Coach Tully says. “These experiences are an invaluable resource for my classes. . . I love that I can relate a real-life, often personal experience that demonstrates a teaching concept. In addition, I love that each class has its challenges. As many of my colleagues know, my response to the question of ‘How are you doing?’ is ‘Every day is a new adventure.’ That is why I am still here. I love the daily challenge."

In addition, Tully writes on his website's blog that becoming a teacher has changed him -- made him a better listener, more open-minded and emphatic, more patient, and kept him "spiritually young while maturing mentally."

Tully says, "Change the world of a child, and it will change you."

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