Louisiana math teacher and track coach Brittany Bonnaffons has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Louisiana Life

I am always happy to share the story of an exceptional educator who has been honored for their work with students. One of these is Brittany Bonnaffons, a math teacher and coach from Luling, Louisiana. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Brittany is originally from Midland, Texas. She moved to the New Orleans area as a junior in high school. Once she graduated from high school, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University. She earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Louisiana State University. She earned a second Master’s degree, in Exercise Science, from the University of Louisiana Monroe. She earned a third Master’s degree in Education from Northwestern University.

Brittany currently teaches Algebra to ninth graders at Hahnville High School in Luling. The students that are enrolled in her classes have low scores on their middle school standardized tests, but because of her intervention, 63% of the students who were not on track to pass the LEAP and 93% of her remaining learners pass the Algebra 1 LEAP 2025.

This Chalkboard Champion’s career as an educator has spanned 12 years so far. But Brittany didn’t originally choose teaching as her profession. She was successfully working in corporate America when she started volunteering as a track and field coach at Hahnville High School in 2018. When her husband noticed her passion for working with the young people, he suggested she go into teaching.

Brittany still serves as the Head Coach for her school’s track team. During her tenure, the team has captured four district championships and has taken regional runner-up honors twice. Among her athletes, there have been more than 50 individual district medalists, more than 30 individual regional medalists, and more than 10 state medalists.