Celeste Hoffpauir, alumna of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School and currently teaching at Leadership Public High School in Hayward, CA, has been featured in the book American Teacher: Heroes in the Classroom (Welcome Books 2013). Celebrating educators who go far above and beyond the call of duty American Teacher shines a spotlight on one of the most underappreciated, undercompensated, yet critically important professions in the world. Over the course of two years, author Katrina Fried interviewed and wrote the stories of 50 extraordinary teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade, selected from public and charter schools across the United States. The result is a collection of inspiring and informative first person-narratives accompanied by heartfelt letters from students and captivating portraits taken by celebrated photographers from around the country. The chapter about Hoffpauir is entitled “Finding Truth and Learning to Trust One's Self.”
“American Teacher: Heroes in the Classroom adds significant weight to the argument that teaching is an art form,” claims Josh Anderson, 2007 Kansas State Teacher of the Year. “Great teachers are not the byproduct of effective state or federal policy, and they cannot be formed from the ribs of staff development. Great teachers, like great athletes, artists, and surgeons, possess an innate talent and a passion for their craft that cannot be replicated in the laboratories of policymaking, assessment, or reform.”
Celeste Hoffpauir received her single subject credential in History/Social Science from UCSB’s Teacher Education Program in 2004, and completed her M.Ed. in 2006. She also received the New Leaders’ Effective Practice Incentive Community program, also known as the EPIC Teacher Award. She also currently is a teacher/facilitator in the Courage to Teach program developed by Parker J. Palmer.