From a special-education student to Teacher of the Year, Mr. Duval of Hollis Brookline High School uses lessons from his past to create a bright future for his students. 

In recognition for his excellence as a civics and AP Government teacher in Hollis Brookline High School, Trevor Duval was awarded VFW Teacher of the Year for the State of New Hampshire on Friday, January 7th, 2022.

Mr. Duval’s own pathway through school provided him with unique perspectives about education and students’ potentials.  Having his early schooling in a special education setting, he felt that “they just kinda threw you into a classroom and forgot about you.” But after moving to a new school district, Mr. Duval was placed in a general classroom where, he said, instead of being regarded as “Trevor, the special ed kid,” he was simply, “Trevor, the kid that kind of struggled a little bit.”  In the 7th grade, with this new identification, a course on Texas history changed his life.  Inspired by a teacher who “just made history amazing,” it clicked in Mr. Duval’s mind that “history is a story,” and that teaching was the career path that he wanted to pursue.

According to Mr. Duval, one key aspect of his teaching style is that he encourages his students to learn to be proactive by planning ahead and reaching out, rather than being reactive, turning work in late and asking for extensions. “You come to me before the quiz, you ask questions during class, versus you take an assessment and are like, ‘I did bad, can I do a retake?’.”

This mindset creates lessons for learning that will benefit students’ futures in work as well as life.  He explains, “You don’t get a redo if you run a stop light and a police officer gives you a ticket. You don’t get a redo if, ‘Oh, I didn’t read the ballot right, I voted for the wrong guy’. Or ‘I didn’t write that today was voting day and I forgot to go vote’.”

However, sometimes life isn’t this simple, and Mr. Duval recognizes this. From his own experience, he knows that treating everyone the same way isn’t the answer, and he teaches accordingly. He does everything he can to nurture his students towards growth and says his favorite part of teaching is seeing a student’s “lightbulb” going off, “watching students gain confidence in themselves and their abilities.” He believes that every student can have a lightbulb moment.

Pandemic life has been a struggle for many people, and it has been an especially hard time for Mr. Duval. “The remote learning that we had to do last year was rough professionally for me. I didn’t feel I could do a lot of the things I normally do. A lot of those group-based activities I couldn’t do.”

His personal life has also been a challenge during the past year.  His wife, Clara, was undergoing treatment for cancer which kept them busy with treatments and appointments, and he had physical therapy himself two to three times a week for most of the school year.  “There was just a lot going on,” he says, and sadly, he lost his wife to cancer last year. “Despite all that, my administration, my peers, some of my former students, they thought that I still did what I needed to do to help them be successful.”

Mr. Duval says he receives this award not just for himself, but for his wife as well, who was also a teacher. “I like to think that I became a better teacher because of her, and so I feel this is almost our award and not just my award.”

After facing and overcoming the various challenges and hardship in his life, this award is not only a testament to Mr. Duval’s incredible teaching, but also a recognition of the inspiring person he is for all who know him.