At Charleston Charter School for Math and Science, history teacher and soccer coach Austin Lassiter is doing more than teaching lessons—he’s helping students build personal libraries they can keep long after graduation.
A Teacher Who Knows His Students
Lassiter has taught history and Social Studies for eight years and also coaches the school’s soccer team. At a small school, he says the close connections make the work rewarding.
“One of the best things of being in a small school is how well you get to know the students. I teach almost all of the kids I coach.”
Books Over Screens
In an age where digital learning dominates, Lassiter prefers an old-fashioned approach.
“Just as everything around us gets more digitized, the power of having a book in your hand and turning the pages—that’s a good life skill.”
He encourages students to dog-ear pages, annotate, highlight, and write notes in the margins as they work through history texts.
A Special Tradition
When the course ends, students get to keep their books.
“I think something of taking ownership of their learning and having it be theirs is nice. And for a lot of them, they get to start to build their own libraries.”
For many, it’s the first time they’ve been able to hold onto a textbook as a resource beyond the classroom.
Funding a New Project
Lassiter hopes to provide a new set of history books for his next group of students. But with 20 students per class and multiple books each, the cost adds up quickly.
Community members can support the project through Donors Choose, which collects donations, buys the requested items, and delivers them directly to teachers. All contributions are tax-deductible.
Those interested can also nominate teachers to be featured as Live 5 Classroom Champions by emailing [email protected].
