This year’s annual Teacher of the Year award was given to Kristen Crews, an American History teacher. Teachers at Reagan collectively voted and agreed that Crews was the perfect candidate.

Crews began teaching at Reagan in Oct. 2010, after having taught at West Forsyth the year prior. She has also been the sponsor for the Youth and Government Delegation at Reagan since 2015.

“As an American history teacher,” Crews said, “I try to get my students to make connections between the past and today by teaching them to use history as a tool to better understand who we are as a country and where we want to go in the future.”

Crews has an evident passion for teaching, as she cherishes the relationships she has with her students.

“I love the time before class where kids are walking in the room and we have conversations about something that happened in the news or around the school,” Crews said. “The students are my most favorite part of teaching, hands down!”

As much as she loves her students, her students love her just the same. As she is constantly finding new ways to make her class fun and engaging, her students are all the more motivated to try their best in her class.

When Forsyth County went into lockdown, Crews was one of the first teachers to get on top of online learning, hosting multiple zooms per week and even setting up individual writing review meetings with students. Her effort during such difficult times inspired her students to push on through AP exams no matter what.

“Even while teaching multiple classes,” said Junior Hasti Sadri, “Mrs. Crews still finds the time to run Youth and Government and take us to Raleigh for our conference. Youth and Government can be a confusing program to start with all the logistics that occur, but Mrs. Crews helps us through it all.”

Not only does Crews sponsor Youth and Government, she also volunteers many hours of her own time to support Reagan’s extracurricular activities as well as college journeys. She also enjoys participating in athletic events with her two sons, Jackson and Carter.

“I love to take my boys to the different athletic events,” said Crews. “My oldest Jackson used to get off the bus from Vienna and so he knows a lot of my students and we enjoy going and watching them compete.”

All of the teachers at Reagan are requested to volunteer with one of the two major school events, Prom or Graduation. Crews takes pride in working with Graduation as well as any of the Senior events. She enjoys seeing her students during a memorable time in their lives.

“The 2020 four-day graduation ceremony in the cold and rain last June was one of my favorite things I have ever done as a teacher!” Crews said.

In her free time, Crews enjoys going biking with her family and spending time outdoors. She also likes to listen to political podcasts to keep up-to-date on all the world’s events. Her hopes to remain educated on the world’s happenings aid her pursuit in keeping her students educated about life in the world going forward.

“What 2020 (and so far in 2021) has taught us as a nation is that social studies education is of enormous value,” Crews said. “Many Americans have forgotten important parts of our history that provide greater context for the issues that affect our communities, our nation, and the world around us.”

Crews’ passion, her perseverance during unprecedented times, as well as countless hours spent volunteering at Reagan and with its students, all of these attributes are what students and staff agree to be the reason for her earning of this award.

“She is so passionate about helping all her students,” said Sadri. “Mrs. Crews’ passion for teaching and dedication to her students is the reason why she deserves the Teacher of the Year Award.”