About Me
My name is Brother Bede, and after graduating with a B.A. in English 2011, I began working as a public school substitute teacher by day, and running educational after school programs for a community center that taught teens how to use digital media in creative and meaningful ways by night. It was through this experience that I discovered I had a gift for teaching, a calling I hadn’t expected but couldn’t ignore. I’ve been cultivating that gift ever since.
From there, I moved into public high school special education and athletic coaching while completing my M.Ed. in Teaching and Learning with a focus in history. I was honored to be named Special Education Teacher Assistant of the Year during that time. After completing my master’s degree, I moved into teaching history at the middle school level, where I began to deepen my passion for helping students understand the past in meaningful, relevant ways. Since then, I’ve gained experience teaching in a variety of educational settings—including military, college preparatory, and Christian schools.
I have been fortunate enough to receive recognition for my work in the classroom. I was awarded Teacher of the Term at my institution in 2023–24, and Teacher of the Year at my current academy in 2024–25.These experiences have given me a unique perspective on how people of all ages and abilities learn. What I’ve come to understand is that every person’s path is unique, and education should help students discover not just what they can do, but who they are called to become.
As I currently pursue my PhD in history, I’m working to expand my understanding of culture, conflict, memory, and the deeper forces that shape human experience. This ongoing study informs not only my research but also how I teach, mentor, and engage with the world.
This project will also serve as a kind of field study for me. I don’t want to become an armchair historian—someone who only studies the past from a distance. I want to be shaped by lived experience, by the people I meet, the work I do, and the stories I hear. Through living fully in the present, I hope to better understand the past and look toward the future with hope and clarity.
A Hidden Life
Cultivating Connection, Curiosity, & Character
“The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who have lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” — George Eliot
This quote has long inspired me. It’s a powerful reminder that history isn’t just written by kings and queens, lords and ladies—it’s built by ordinary people doing meaningful work, often unseen and uncelebrated. That belief drives how I teach, how I live, and why I’m building this project.
It’s also why I work under the pseudonym Brother Bede. Like the monks who quietly preserved wisdom through centuries of uncertainty, I hope to honor the dignity of work, the beauty of vocation, and the quiet contributions of everyday people. The name is a tribute to that tradition—a way of reminding myself that teaching, crafting, and storytelling are sacred acts worth doing well, even if no one is watching.
Virtue & Vocation
The Pursuit of Happiness - On Purpose.
In a world driven by screens, I believe that the future is physical.
Yes, I know it may sound contradictory to promote this vision through a website and social media. But I don’t believe we need to abandon technology altogether. Instead, we need to restore balance—putting tech in its proper place as a tool, not a master, both in the classroom and beyond.
I want to lead by example. I want to get my hands dirty, meet people face to face, and experience the world up close. I want to try new things, fail at them, and keep showing up anyway—because that’s what learning is really about. And I want students to see that for themselves.
Crafting History is my way of practicing what I teach. The surest way to change our lives—and the lives of our students—is by teaching and living with virtue. When we do, we don’t just pass on information—we pass on formation. Education rooted in virtue shapes not only minds, but hearts, helping students become the kind of people who build a better world. Virtue doesn’t just teach for today—it forms character for a lifetime.
It helps us build something that lasts—forever.
At its heart, Crafting History is about vocation—the belief that each of us has a purpose, a path, and a story worth living.
