Introducing Laura LaChappelle, the 2018 Georgia History Teacher of the Year

Laura LaChappelle 

Georgia History Teacher of the Year 

Since 2004, 749 exemplary American history teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools in all fifty states, Department of Defense schools, Washington DC, and US territories have been named State History Teacher of the Year. The National History Teacher of the Year is named in the fall. The 2018 State History Teachers of the Year were asked informal interview questions by the Gilder Lehrman Institute.  

Do you have a favorite/funny moment from teaching?

My favorite teaching moments are when I can tell that kids are really getting into it—they’re absorbed in the “story” part of history, and I can see it on their faces; I can hear it in their questions. This is partly why I will never completely eschew lectures in my classroom, because to me, that’s storytelling time, and that’s part of the hook that pulls kids in to studying history.

Tell us one fun historical fact about the town you live in or grew up in. 

I teach in Jackson, Georgia, which is in Butts County. Yep, you read that right. Butts County is actually named after Samuel Butts, a hero from the War of 1812. Our county is home to the Indian Springs Hotel, where Chief William McIntosh signed the treaty ceding Muscogee (Creek) lands to Georgia. Some of my students have the opportunity to work as docents at the hotel, which was owned by Chief McIntosh before his death in 1825.

What was the last great history book you read?

After reading Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations by Georgina Howell last year, I wanted to know more about her male counterpart in the region, so I’m currently reading Scott Anderson’s Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East.

What is your favorite historical site or museum?

The Arlington National Cemetery. I think every US citizen should see the changing of the guard ceremony in person at least once in their lifetime—it is powerfully moving, and reminds me each time I’ve seen it that others have paid the price for my freedoms.

If you could travel back in time and meet any historical figure, who would it be and why?

I’m fascinated with the personality of President Theodore Roosevelt, and I think a conversation with him would be really interesting. I especially wonder, were he allowed to know what we know now, if he’d change his mind on any of the political positions he took, particularly regarding imperialism.

What is your favorite historical film or series?

I’m a sucker for Downton Abbey!

Do your students have a favorite historical topic or era?

My students have always enjoyed twentieth-century topics. I think they tend to make connections with more recent events in history, without realizing how much they’re using the background knowledge they’ve gained in class all year to understand those events.

What advice would you give to young people, in high school or college, who may be considering a career in education but are unsure?

Do what you LOVE. Being an educator is far too difficult, with too little compensation and too little overall respect, to do it without having a true passion for it. But if you truly love teaching—you care about your students and you enjoy your content—that will come across to the students in your classroom, and that matters so much.

Click here to nominate a teacher for the 2019 state and national awards.