As the new year begins, Krista Burkhart returns to Fauquier High School (FHS) after a brief absence. Burkhart has been teaching for a total of 15 years. Over the course of those years, Burkhart primarily taught social studies because she “likes the ins and outs of how people work, what they do, and why they do it.”
Burkhart loves teaching and seeing how differently the students learn. It brings Burkhart lots of joy to teach social studies; whether her students are passionate about the class or not, she makes the learning experience fun and engaging.
Growing up in Chicago, Ill., Burkhart enjoys the change of scenery in Fauquier County. She has a family consisting of a husband and three kids, and enjoys every second with them. Outside of teaching, Burkhart has many hobbies, including cooking, dancing and playing video games with loved ones.
Burkhart’s favorite thing about teaching is “the creativity that comes into a good lesson.” Burkhart jokingly mentioned the enjoyment experienced when interacting with young people because it “makes [Burkhart] feel younger.”
Burkhart was inspired to become an educator because of her previous teachers, specifically her eighth-grade social studies teacher. “Mr. Levine was my favorite teacher during high school,” she shared. Burkhart feels that Levine inspired the values used in Burkhart’s own teaching style, even aspiring to be as good a teacher as he was. “[Levine] made me feel like a rock star. I felt like I could do what he did and make history come to life.”
Prior to Burkhart taking over the AP Government class here at FHS, David Smith taught the class for 50 years. Burkhart feels like there is a noticeable pressure surrounding her after Smith’s retirement. Though recognizing the big shoes to fill, Burkhart is encouraged by Smith, “One thing [Smith] did tell me when I met with him at the end of last school year [was]: ‘I was worried about who’s gonna take over my classes, but I’m glad it’s you.’” With Smith’s encouragement, Burkhart is ready to shine as the AP Government teacher.
What makes Burkhart different from other teachers is that she incorporates different teaching styles into the lesson plans to make an impact on each student. Burkhart likes to switch things up. One day, students will work on notes and complete an activity. Another day, she may choose to do the activity first and finish with notes. Burkhart reads the needs of her classroom, saying, “If it’s not fun, the kids aren’t learning.”
The activity Burkhart finds most exciting is called “Slump The Teacher,” where students read a part of a textbook and, afterward, come up with questions they don’t think she will be able to answer. Then, Burkhart has a list of questions to ask them to get from the reading, and after they play the game. If they beat Burkhart and stump her on the questions, they’ll get a hundred percent on a quiz they don’t have to take.
At the end of the day, Burkhart wants students to leave “knowing and developing more of a love for learning and feeling like they were safe and comfortable in my class.” Burkhart is very excited to get back in the groove of teaching social studies.
