Easthampton High teacher wins national award

By EMILY THURLOW

Staff Writer

Published: 07-15-2022 1:30 PM

EASTHAMPTON — Easthampton High School social studies teacher Kelley Brown has received national recognition for her teaching.

Brown, who teaches advanced placement U.S. History, advanced placement U.S. Government and We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, was named the Daughters of the American Revolution 2022 National Outstanding Teacher of American History and was presented with an award recognizing the honor at a ceremony held in Washington, D.C. late last month.

“Inspirational, knowledgeable and stellar are all words that describe the 2022 National Outstanding Teacher of American History, Kelley Brown,” said Daughters of the American Revolution Historian General Laura Kessler at the ceremony.

Brown has taught at Easthampton High for more than two decades, and in 2010 was named Massachusetts history teacher of the year.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Brown’s We the People class tests their understanding of the U.S. Constitution and legal principles through an academic competition run by the state Center for Civic Education.

The most recent Easthampton team took home first place at the state finals, bringing the school’s total win to six. The school also has a win from the 2020 national competition under its belt.

EHS Principal William Evans commended Brown’s achievement.

“Kelley is most deserving of this honor,” Evans said. “She is truly an exceptional educator, and we are very fortunate to have her here at Easthampton High School. Her students benefit from her passion, her hard work, and her unique ability to create a true love of learning.”

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The Daughters of the American Revolution is a volunteer service nonprofit organization with more than 175,000 members and 3,000 chapters, including one in Northampton. Founded in 1890 for historic preservation, education and patriotic purposes, members of the organization are all directly descended from a person involved in the American Revolution.

Each year, the organization holds a continental congress as its annual national meeting in Washington, D.C. and holds a weeklong convention. There, national, state and local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution meet to report on the year’s work and honor outstanding award recipients.

“I’m honored and blessed that the Daughters of the American Revolution took the time to recognize me as a teacher,” said Brown. “This award is a testament to my students who work incredibly hard. I feel like I do work hard, but the work we do together is worth recognizing.”

In September, Brown will serve as the keynote speaker at the fall state conference of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Although she has always expressed a love for tutoring and learning, Brown, whose mother was a longtime teacher at Jackson Street School in Northampton, said she didn’t plan on being a teacher.

“(Teaching) is a nice fit though because I get to tutor and learn alongside my students every single day,” she said.

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>