Excellent Educators: Chesapeake
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Throughout the month of May, 10 On Your Side is highlighting teachers in our area for our Excellent Educators series. In Chesapeake, we were introduced to Kaitlyn Gabriel. In 2025, she was named teacher of the year for both Oscar Smith Middle School and for the entire school district.
View all of the nominated educators
She teaches Civics and Economics to 6th graders at the middle school. Even though she struggled in school herself, she knew she wanted to be a teacher since Kindergarten.
During WAVY's visit to Gabriel's classroom, she turned the Civics lesson into a secret agent style investigation. She is known to occasionally dress in costume for lessons, even if it makes driving to work a little embarrassing.
Known to many students as Ms. Gabe, she started teaching in 2019, right before the COVID pandemic.
'Never really got a normal year and I think that's kind of a blessing, because it's made me a better teacher,' Gabriel said. 'All of the cool lessons I have come up with and the way that I have evolved as a teacher wouldn't have really happened without those learning gaps. It's forced me to be the best that I can be because it is what they deserve.'
Outside the classroom, Gabriel is also a soccer coach.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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The day after the fire, the workers rolled out a barrel of beer that had survived the flames and locals showed up with their tankards, drinking vessels, and enjoyed a drink on the spot. There were several reconstructions in the pub's subsequent history, but none withstood the salt water and shifting foundations of the Thames, Billington explained. Not, that is, until 1774 when the retired captain of a merchant ship called 'The Prospect' rebuilt it using the ship. 'This rebuild held and continues to hold on for dear life," he said. If the pub was actually established in 1774, that would make the Mayflower — established in the 16th century — older. But there are no hard feelings between the pubs as Billington described their competition as a 'loving rivalry.' 'We compete against each other to be the oldest, and to serve the best food and drink,' he said. But the question remains: How can either pub definitively claim the title? Unlike the title of the 'Oldest pub in England,' held by the Porch House in southern England, which is said to date to the 10th century, there is no official certification for the oldest pub in London. Guinness World Records said it has not formally awarded the title because of the complexities created by numerous name changes, relocations and reconstructions. 'There are lots of very old pubs that might make a claim to being oldest, but it could be contested because it could be argued they weren't always in 'London,'' English historian and author Jacob Field said. 'Many pubs have changed name over time, making it hard to claim they are the oldest."
