Iraq War Veteran Helps Roseville 7th Graders Make Sense Of History

ROSEVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) -- Jeffrey Bibeau teaches seventh grade social studies at Roseville Area Middle School. Along with teaching duties, he has also juggled active duty in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army.

The Iraq War veteran uses lessons from the battlefield to inspire his students and that makes him an Excellent Educator.

"I teach the greatest students in the Roseville Area School District, probably the state of Minnesota, they are seventh grade students, and they are really into us history," he said.

Bibeau has been teaching for 20 years. His mission? To get his students hooked on history.

"I think, like these guys, I wasn't really interested in history, but then one day I went on a tour in Chicago and it was a history tour, and I was absolutely fascinated by it, so I figured it was the delivery of it, I thought, well I can do better," he said.

His mission with his students sometimes has to be put on hold for other missions, like when he gets deployed to Iraq or Bosnia and has to take a leave of absence.

"They call me up and say 'You're going to get deployed?' and one time during class the phone rang and they said 'this is your notification you're going to Iraq' and I said 'OK' and put the phone down and did my best to teach the rest of the day," he said.

The experience abroad and serving his country has influence the lessons he teaches in his classroom.

"It gives you a different perspective when you're out in the areas you are talking about wars and people that are involved and how they live around the world," he said.