A Touch of Class: Tom Fejeran

With a resume that lists extensive career experience spanning both military and civilian employment - in addition to a number of accolades, Tom Fejeran could be anywhere but the classroom. However, he says his decision to become an educator was instinctive. "I decided I guess my calling was to be a teacher so I resigned from my job as a chief planner and started with DoDEA for a year and then came to Santa Barbara where I've been going on four years," he said.

Fejeran is the social studies teacher for 6th, 7th and 8th graders at Santa Barbara Catholic School. Why social studies? Fejeran says teaching the subject affords him the opportunity to share his passion for sociology, which is what he studied in college. He explained, "I want them to feel history, the items that you see in my classroom are not from here - I brought them in. They're artifacts and they actually touch it because I don't just want to explain to them and say this is what it is, I want them to feel what it is."

With his classroom looking more like an interactive museum - it reflects Fejeran's personal philosophy of ensuring that his students maintain inquisitive minds. "History is alive," he enthusiastically said, "it is never dead and what I want them to do is take it and have that inquisitive mind and pursue it."

If you would like to nominate an outstanding local educator to be profiled for our "A Touch of Class" segment on TV and online, your candidate must meet the following criteria:

The nominee must be a full time teacher of any subject any grade from pre-school through high school

The nominator must be a fellow teacher, school administrator, student or parent and must provide a letter of nomination to KUAM by e-mailing us

Recipients cannot win the award two consecutive years

You can see the full list of "A Touch of Class" recipients by clicking here.