Amanda Becker of Rockford has been a history teacher of alma mater Rockford’s Auburn High School all 18 years of her teaching career. She was nominated by a Golden Apple Teacher Academy member, who wrote that she “is one of the finest teachers I have ever known. She is always working to improve her teaching skills and is very involved with her students and is highly respected by them.” Her department chair says that she “possesses an unbridled enthusiasm for the teaching of history. Her love of teaching and of history is infectious, even inspirational.” Amanda often dresses the part of a historical figure, sometimes even bringing in reproduction artifacts and re-enactor friends to bring the lesson alive. She says that her “lesson plans are self-created because I know my students. Textbook companies and websites do not know my students.” As a former asst. principal of Amanda’s wrote, “students can learn history out of a textbook, or they can experience history by taking Amanda’s classes.” She is committed to her students and her school. Amanda is the Service Academy Lead at Auburn, so she acts as liaison between the Service Academy administrator and Service Academy teachers. In this role she recognizes how important it is “to advance student achievement in academics but to also provide quality student experiences which could be life changing.” Observers to Amanda’s classroom enjoyed how creative and engaging her lessons were as well as how she promoted critical thinking and participating from everyone. She gave constant affirming feedback and encouragement to respect each other. Additionally, her “lesson plan didn’t just include history but also how the historical events can be compared to present day.”