Rachel Billups, a teacher for Edgren Middle High School at Misawa Air Base, Japan, has been honored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. (Mitchell Singler)
As a child, Rachel Billups lined up her teddy bears in front of a chalkboard, imaging herself as a teacher.
Decades later, a New York-based educational nonprofit has named her Department of Defense Education Activity History Teacher of the Year.
Billups, of Edgren Middle High School at Misawa Air Base in northeastern Japan, has been a teacher since 2001 and with DODEA since 2013, according to a July 18 announcement by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
The institute names a K-12 teacher of the year for each state, U.S. territory, the District of Columbia and DOD schools. The 53 award winners receive $1,000 and a collection of classroom resources, including American history books.
Billups said she was honored to be nominated by her students.
“You have to be high energy,” she told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday. “You have to definitely love the students, and you have to love what you’re teaching. And you just have to allow yourself to have fun.”
Billups said her students made the award possible.
“I think it’s important to have that shout out to the students, because I don’t think the world gives kids enough credit,” she said. “They’re so smart and such analytical thinkers. It’s such a joy, and I think more people should get into education and be able to experience working with these young people.”
Billups holds a bachelor’s degree in general studies from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., and a master’s in education with a technology and curriculum focus from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass.
She described her teaching style as hands-on and immersive.
“I think my students would say that their favorite project last year was a Roaring ‘20s party,” she said. “I assigned each student a different famous person, because I only invite famous people to my party.”
Students, who portrayed historic figures like Henry Ford, mingled and taught one another all about their characters, Billups said. They also learned the Charleston, a popular jazz dance from that period.
With the start of the school year next week, Billups will be teaching U.S. history, AP history and Global Studies – subjects she said she’s very passionate about.
Billups said it’s important that students see the world through the eyes of the people of the past.
“You have to know where we came from,” she said. “I love the stories – the stories of history and the whys.”
Billups is now a finalist for the 2024 National History Teacher of the Year Award, which will be announced in October. A panel of eminent historians, former winners, and master teachers will select one national winner for a $10,000 award, according to the institute’s release.
