Mr. Chapman is one of our teachers at Aliso Niguel High School and teaches US History and World History. He has been a teacher for 37 years and he has been teaching at Aliso Niguel High School since the doors opened 31 years ago.
There is always a reason to become a teacher and Mr. Chapman said his reason for becoming a teacher was because of his love for baseball.
Mr. Chapman says, “When my career ended in college I realized that I wanted to stay involved with baseball and High School coaching was the best answer.”
Mr. Chapman said that one of his favorite things about being a teacher is the relationship with his students.
He says “the idea of building the relationship with the kids through the eyes of a History teacher and opening their eyes to the learning process and seeing the growth in students.”
As a teacher, some memories stick with him and continue to motivate him. He says “the memories that stick out the most for me in students from the past that I have coached and taught that have come back to themselves as teachers and coaches that work together with me. For example Coach Barnett and Coach Kokx.”
He considers it a legacy that he was able to coach and help others grow and they come back to work with him and he considers it some of the fondest memories.
Another special memory is back in Mr. Chapman’s coaching days when he won a State Championship! He was able to practice and achieve something great in and out of the classroom!
Over the course of being a teacher, there are always challenges to overcome and one of Mr. Chapman’s biggest challenges was the subject of history.
Mr. Chapman says “In the first several years of teaching I had to work on the content and the information that I am teaching the students.”
Another small challenge that he had to get used to was the technology since it has grown over the years.
Being a teacher can be difficult but Mr. Chapman has been able to be a great teacher to his students and make sure that they are learning the material but also building a relationship with everyone in the classroom.
Austin Hays (11) says one teaching skill that he loves about Mr. Chapman is that “he connects with us as a friend instead of just trying to be our teacher and only our teacher.”
The goal that Mr. Chapman wants to give to his students is to build a connection and make sure that his students are being pushed to the best of their abilities because he believes in every single one. Mr. Chapman is loved by many students and teachers. Even though this is his last year teaching at Aliso Niguel High School, he has left his Legacy here at Aliso and won’t be forgotten.
