Hartselle teacher wins national recognition

Before a crowd of excited students fresh from spring break, Jonathan Bragwell of Hartselle Intermediate School was announced the 2019 National Sons of the American Revolution elementary history teacher of the year. Bragwell had won the state title earlier in the year and was announced the national winner in a special surprise assembly this morning.

As part of his recognition, Bragwell will be able to attend national symposiums this summer and won $500 towards classroom supplies next year.

Bob Anderson is the Alabama Society Sons of the American Revolution president, and announced Bragwell as the national winner. He said that Bragwell is the first Alabama teacher to win the recognition. “He teaches outside the box, he doesn’t just teach what’s in the book. He brings in speakers, he brings in speakers to talk to his kids about the Revolutionary War and the colonial times leading up to the war. He has a great resume and his essay that he wrote is outstanding,” Anderson said.

Bragwell has been teaching for over 20 years, and says one of the cornerstones of his lessons is discussion. “A lot of it comes from discussion, from some of the weird questions that they come up with,” Bragwell said.

Discussions, special guests and the use of multimedia in the classroom are some of the ways that Bragwell says he tries to keep his class interesting. Hartselle Superintendent Dr. Dee Dee Jones said that one of Bragwell’s most defining features as a teacher is making his lessons standout with students. “He tries to bring it to life for the students so they can remember it. He makes it fun and makes it interesting for the students. I would say the key thing is that he brings it to life. The kids love that and it makes a lasting memory and impression on them,” Jones said.

Before being named the national elementary school history teacher of the year, Bragwell went through a rigorous application process that included recommendations and a 1,200 word essay on his philosophy of teaching history. According to Anderson, judges look at the teacher’s ability to teach beyond the textbook. “Well anybody can teach the book. The book has become not as vibrant as it could be. There is a lot of information left out because of time…There is a lot more to it. The kids only get a sprinkling of that in the book, and he makes sure they get the whole story, ” Anderson said.

According to Jones, the national recognition is something that Hartselle City Schools have always recognized in Bragwell. “It’s exciting to have a teacher recognized nationally for the work that they do in the classroom and the work they do with students. Mr. Bragwell does an excellent job in the classroom. It just reaffirms that someone else besides us recognizes the fact that he is an excellent teacher. He loves kids, he loves what he does and he has a passion for what he does. You can see that in what he brings to his classroom every day,” Jones said.

Bragwell says he first became interested in teaching when he was in college. “That is something I discovered in college. I started as a business major and was then encouraged to enter the teaching profession and then that led to elementary education,” Bragwell said.

Although he did not realize his calling as a teacher until college, Bragwell said he has always been fascinated with history. “It always interested me since I was a little kid. I didn’t always do well in language and reading and math growing up, but history was always my top subject. It’s something that has always fascinated me and interested me,” Bragwell said.

In addition to announcing Bragwell as the national winner, Anderson says he has also seen him teach and been a guest in the classroom. Anderson said their participation is only one example of how Bragwell makes learning fun. “I can only tell you that I have been coming into his classroom for six years. My wife and I come in and we spend a day with his classes talking about uniforms and weapons that were used during the war and we love it and the kids absolutely love it. When the kids can actually touch something and see it, it brings history to life for them,” Anderson said.