Teacher Advisory Council

Laura Wakefield

Years teaching: 28
Subjects: History
Education: B.S., Florida State University (Government and Social Studies Education)
M.A., University of Central Florida (History)

Laura Wakefield has had many roles at Florida Virtual School (FLVS) over the last 11 years and is currently the Grants Coordinator. Previously, she authored the FLVS Turning Points Teaching American History federal grant, coordinated a teacher preparation program grant piloting virtual lesson study, wrote history curriculum, and served as a middle and high school American history teacher. Before ‘going virtual,’ Laura taught middle school social studies in Osceola County Florida schools for many years and was recognized as the National Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the National Council for the Social Studies in 1995. She holds a Master of Arts degree in American History as a James Madison Fellow and achieved National Board certification in Social Studies/History. The author of several articles on teaching history, she has been a frequent presenter at state and national conferences. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Council for History Education and enjoys mentoring teachers. Prior to her teaching career, she served as a U.S. Army Captain stationed in Germany. Laura loves spending time with her husband, four children and grandchildren.

“I discovered the work of the National Humanities Center over 12 years ago when I was looking for primary source materials to enrich history lessons for my middle school students. At NHC I found new (to me) images and documents along with background information and ideas for teaching about them. Since then I have returned to the NHC website whenever I needed a fresh approach to teaching. This led to a five-year partnership with NHC to deliver online professional development webinars for two Teaching American History grants, including the first one for virtual teachers. It is my belief that many more schools and districts could benefit from a similar opportunity to participate in online webinars. Through the Teacher Advisory Council I hope to renew a successful partnership and allow more teachers and students as they explore the resources available through America in Class.”