Winning “harps” at Santa Fe: Teacher of the Year

Mainly known for his iconic Lady Gaga performance during Double Wolf Dare Week 2019-2020, Eric Harp pulls out on top as Santa Fe’s Teacher of the Year. 

Harp has only taught at Santa Fe for four years, but he has already made his mark on the school. His first year teaching at the school, Harp taught Pre-AP Oklahoma History and U.S. History. For the last three years, he has been teaching AP Human Geography and AP World History. He also sponsors National Honor Society, alongside teacher Torie York. Harp’s involvement with the school as a history educator has helped him achieve Teacher of the Year.

“I feel like I have a good relationship with many people across the school,” Harp said. “Also being a part of the social studies department helped and being a large department helped in votes.”

COVID-19 has affected the flow of teaching for both faculty and students. Teacher of the Year nominees have to submit a video to go further in the competition to reach state level. These videos entail the working environment of the nominee’s classrooms. However, because of the pandemic, Harp’s Teacher of the Year video has been affected. 

Harp said, “It has been hard to create a normal teacher of the year video because my classes look a little different with students in masks and using chromebooks more this year.”
Typically, newer teachers are not picked as Teacher of the Year; however, Harp has grown on students and created memorable relationships with many of them.
“I love having him as a teacher because he can chat with his students and get off topic at times but can still get what needs to be taught done,” senior Susan Le said. “You can see that he cares for his students and is understanding.”

As the unordinary year rolls by, students hope for more iconic Harp moments like his performance as Lady Gaga. Even as a new coming teacher at Santa Fe, Eric Harp has won over the hearts of students and faculty.