Award-winning teacher: ‘America really doesn’t care what happens to poor people and most black people. There, I said it.’
Members of Black Lives Matter DMV participate in the annual Martin Luther King Holiday Peace Walk and Parade on Jan. 18 in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
By all counts, Nathan Gibbs-Bowling is a great educator who knows how to reach students and inspire colleagues, so it is no wonder that he is the 2016 Washington state Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the 2016 National Teacher of the Year. He also has a lot to say about the state of public education and school reform — and his views are stark and important.
A veteran educator in the Tacoma School District, Gibbs-Bowling has taught middle school reading and high school students social studies, and is currently teaching AP U.S. Government and Politics as well as AP Human Geography at Lincoln High School. He was a winner of the Milken National Teaching Award, and his biography attached to that honor explains the way he approaches his profession:
For a man who has been described as a “cheerleader, drill sergeant and professor,” it is no surprise that social studies teacher Nathan Gibbs-Bowling at Lincoln High School in Tacoma, WA is considered the “best teacher in the state” by one of his colleagues. Perhaps equally impressive, though he isn’t a rock star or famous actor, his fans — also known as his students — have lauded his exceptional talents as a dynamic and engaging classroom teacher.Gibbs-Bowling is known as a demanding teacher, not an “Easy ‘A’,” who is highly respected for his Advanced PlacementAward-winning teacher: ‘America really doesn’t care what happens to poor people and most black people. There, I said it.’ - The Washington Post: