Christopher Longwell

Connect Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher because my brother was always the kid who didn’t get treated right in school. He was in a wheelchair by the time he was in 4th grade due to having Duchenne muscular dystrophy. I wanted to be the teacher that could support all students and teach them to be amazing and themselves. I used to work with his teachers by volunteering in their classrooms when I had a day off of school and learned a lot. I then realized that it was my calling to be a teacher and work with kids too!

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

I remember working with a group of boys and girls in a technology club that I did after school. My students learned how to be successful with some engineering projects and built a roller coaster in the classroom. They used a Kinex design and then engineered their own. It was memorable because of the team building and problem solving. They designed it using coding and games and then tested it to see who could create a successful roller coaster using certain parameters in the game.

What would you do with the $25,000?

With $25k I would take some of it to update some things in my classroom but I would also use it to invest in my kids futures. My kids love to play sports and I would be able to take about half of that money and have it pay for my daughter and son to do more with their extracurricular activities. I have always been a teacher who loves to coach and run clubs afterschool. I want for my kids to have those opportunities if possible and this would be a great way to help them get those opportunities.