Alumni Feature: Still Honeyman

"Still Honeyman" premiered April 11, 2025. This 36-minute documentary presents the remarkable journey of Mark Honeyman, a beloved former teacher in Bloomfield Hills Schools. It is available to stream for free until April 25, 2025 at 9:00PM: Still Honeyman Film.

Honeyman lived and taught with essential tremor for over 45 years. Essential tremor is a neurological condition that causes a rhythmic trembling of the hands, head, voice, legs or trunk. Honeyman received several awards and accolades while serving the Bloomfield Hills community, and students often recall Honeyman as the teacher who changed their life.

Bloomfield Hills Schools connected with Honeyman to discuss the documentary and the inspiring path which led to this point.

BHS: Can you share your experience of being involved in Still Honeyman? What motivated you to participate?

Honeyman: I reached out to the director of the film, J.R. Heffelfinger, who had become a dear friend of mine after we worked together on a previous project. I told “Heff” that I was going to be pursuing DBS surgery, and he immediately asked if he could document that journey. At the time, it was a poignant and deeply personal project. No corporate backing, no marketing team, [we were] just two people who cared about each other documenting a profound experience as it unfolded.

BHS: What do you hope the impact of this film will be for its viewers?

Honeyman: In some ways, I hesitate to put guardrails on what I hope the film will accomplish. Just like with a great piece of literature, each person who views the film will bring their own life experiences and their own perception of what they're seeing, and from that, they will find their own meaning. For me personally, I think I have three big goals that I hope emerge over time: First, I hope people who have essential tremor derive a sense of hope AND a sense that they aren't alone in what they're going through. Second, I hope people who don't know about the condition learn about the various aspects of essential tremor, which is a neurological disorder that is eight times more common than Parkinson's, and yet very few people have ever heard of it. Finally, I hope the film can be used to help raise funds for much needed research into the condition.

BHS: How did your background as a teacher influence your perspective on your journey to heal?

Honeyman: For me, teaching was always about relationships, so I tapped into my support network to help sustain me as I made my way through the experience. I'm also reminded of a writing contest that I used to have the students enter every year about breaking barriers. The paper centered around perseverance and using our innate abilities to overcome challenges. I tried to maintain that kind of mindset from the beginning to the end of the process.

BHS: How many years did you teach, and how many years at BHS?

Honeyman: I taught for 35 years, and every single one of those years was spent in the Bloomfield Hills School District, first at Andover High School for a decade, and then at West Hills for the last 25 years of my career. I even student-taught in Bloomfield Hills in the fall of 1984!

BHS: What challenges, if any, did you face when addressing your health with your students?

Honeyman: The only challenge came when a student came up to me at the end of class one time with tears in her eyes. She asked me if I was angry at the class, or if I was sick or upset about something, because she had seen my hands shaking the entire hour. Up until then, I had never uttered a word about my condition to my students. That day changed my mind. I decided to open up to my students about my tremors so that they wouldn't worry, but more importantly, so that they could see someone with a significant disability who was still living a life filled with joy. I talked to them about staying hopeful and continuing to move forward, no matter what challenges they were facing in their own lives. From the moment I opened up, my students showered me with empathy and assistance whenever I had to do something that required fine motor skills. I never once felt vulnerable when I opened up to them. Quite the opposite: they made me feel safe, and I think it helped deepen our connection to each other because they saw that I was willing to trust them with my condition.

BHS: What do you miss most about teaching and/or BHS?

Honeyman: Those small, daily interactions with my students. Interactions that really weren't small at all. They were monumental, whether I was meeting a student before school to help them with an academic issue, or talking to a student at lunch about a problem they were having with their friends, or looking over a paper in order to be able to provide feedback, or chatting after school with a student about their favorite rock star. My heartbeat was inextricably linked to every student who walked through my door.

BHS: What pursuits or activities are you currently engaging in during your retirement years?

Honeyman: My focus these days is on wedding officiating. […]2 years ago, I had a student who shared with me that they were looking for a wedding officiant, and they asked if I knew anyone who could fill that role. That was the beginning of a 9-month experience of preparing for the wedding that easily is among the most meaningful experiences of my lifetime. To go from teaching somebody as a 12-year-old adolescent to join them to their husband for life? Doesn't get much better than that! 

BHS: Is there anything else you would like to share with the Bloomfield Hills Schools community?

Honeyman: I am profoundly grateful for every moment I spent in the Bloomfield Hills Schools community. Not only did I savor the experience as it was happening, but now that I'm retired, I continue to remain in contact with former students and their parents, several of whom actually make an appearance in the documentary! Those ongoing connections bring me more joy than I know how to articulate. This community is embedded in my DNA, and I couldn't be more thankful.

Honeyman’s healing journey is fascinating and inspirational. BHS thanks Honeyman for the multitude of years of dedication, empathy, and wealth of knowledge!