By Dina Martin
A remarkable thing happened to Lewis Chappelear on his way to fulfilling his dream of becoming an engineer — he shifted course and became a teacher instead. And the California Teacher of the Year has never looked back.
It was on a move in 2000 to Los Angeles to rethink his life and begin advanced studies at UCLA that he got a part-time job — as a substitute in a Los Angeles County youth detention facility.
He admits he questioned his decision as he walked through several levels of security gates to discover he had been given the most hard-core juvenile delinquents.
He was equally amazed to learn that there were no books, paper or pencils in the classroom — for fear the students would use them as weapons. So, he winged it — by sitting down and just talking with the kids about their lives.
Chappelear, a member of United Teachers Los Angeles, still talks glowingly of that experience.
“That day was one of the best days of my life,” Chappelear says. “It’s corny, but that day I got a feeling I could make a difference in the world. It gave me a sense of what a teacher could be.”
Chappelear spent five months as a substitute teacher before starting a teaching credential program and getting a job teaching math at James Monroe High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
But Chappelear became bored with teaching algebra all day long, so he began to lobby the administration to allow him teach an electronics class the following year. Shortly after, his class came to the attention of the district administration, which was looking to develop career technical courses with an infusion of funding it had received. With Perkins career and technical education grant funding, Chappelear was able to start building a real program.
At first, Chappelear’s new program drew only 20 students, but after changing the name from “electronics” to “robotics,” he was able to attract students by the hundreds.
In the ensuing years, Chappelear expanded the program to a more comprehensive small learning community and changed the name again to the “School of Engineering and Design.”
From the first day, Chappelear made sure the program was open to all students. Special education students and English language learners have as much opportunity in the program as any other student.
Today, about 200 students participate in the program, where they can take courses for one semester or up to two years. About a dozen other faculty also teach courses in the program.
Chappelear’s classroom has as many as 18 different stations where students can explore various aspects of engineering. He has also developed student internships with local businesses — from aerospace engineering firms to manufacturing companies.
Presidents of local businesses regularly lecture in the class, inspiring students with their stories of how they got their start in their professions.
Chappelear has even had students help local firms come up with solutions to some of their technology problems.
“I find that too often, we’re preparing students for college, but not for life,” Chappelear says.
“Most of the time, the only professional people students have contact with are their teachers. It’s important that they get out in the community.”
Although becoming a professional engineer didn’t interest Chappelear, it has served him well as a teacher. With the demands schools face of placing highly qualified teachers in the classroom, Chappelear found himself in the right place at the right time — as one of the few teachers qualified to teach engineering.
To add to his master’s degrees and teaching credentials in math, physics and electronics, he received National Board Certification in 2005.
Chappelear’s earlier teaching experience has also broadened his career. In addition to teaching engineering, he is the school’s IMPACT crisis counselor, working once a week with at-risk students who have problems at home, substance abuse issues or other difficulties.
“I always thought a teacher was someone who stood up in a classroom and dispensed information,” he says. “But you are really there as a mentor and a guide.”
In January, after he and four others were named as California Teachers of the Year (see adjacent story), Chappelear received notice that he is now among four finalists in the running to become National Teacher of the Year, an award that will be announced this spring.
Of course, Chappelear is thrilled to be nominated for the award. But even if he hadn’t been, he says enthusiastically, “I found my lifelong dream.”
