French teacher Christen Campbell was named Chapel Hill High School’s Teacher of the Year after her coworkers selected her for the award in mid-April.
Campbell has been teaching French at Chapel Hill High School for eight years.
“French is the lens with which I teach other things that I’m passionate about. The cool thing about teaching a language is that you get to teach so much more than just one subject,” Campbell said. “I get to teach about social justice, geography, history, literature and art and that never makes it boring.”
Spanish teacher Thomas Soth nominated Campbell for the award.
“What she does is beyond for just the French students, like the water stations around the school that she supplied through a grant. She’s also a member of the equity team. If you look into her room during the morning, the kids are there,” Soth said.
Junior Anna Rogers had Campbell as a teacher for two years and noted Campbell’s kindness and concern for her pupils.
“Madame Campbell is an awesome teacher because she actually takes time to make sure her students are doing okay. She really cares about every one of her students,” Rogers said.
Campbell has been involved in many projects, one of which was emphasizing the importance of studying abroad with the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE).
This year, 27 students are going abroad on scholarships.
“Last year was the first year. We had 13 students going abroad, and 12 of those students were on scholarship,” Campbell said.
Campbell also planned a six-week program of free swimming lessons for Chapel Hill students this summer.
She expressed gratitude to her coworkers for honoring her with the award.
“There are so many awesome teachers here at Chapel Hill. To have been selected by my colleagues is a really huge honor because I have so much respect for them,” Campbell said.
In 2015, Campbell won teacher of the year for the state from the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF).
