BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Stepping into the classroom for another school year Lauren Chella returned to her makeshift studio. A podium is where it all started.
Encouraged by her students and fueled by the pandemic, Chella began filming TikToks in her classroom.
“After the pandemic hit, we were just at home with nothing to do and I didn’t have a way to reach or connect with my students.”
Just her and a phone after school talking about the Russian revolution.
“I only had a minute to do it and so I just hit it really fast and it blew up. It got over a million views.”
And she kept filming them until her students started watching them. One of those students, Juan Carrillo, saw her video and says her engaging classes made learning fun.
“At first it was kind of hard because I wasn’t really interested in history but Mrs. Chella made it easier.”
Carrillo sent them to his classmate Jonathan Hernandez who says he enjoyed watching her videos before class to know what to expect.
“I always thought it was a boring class but she always found a way to make it our language.”
According to a 2022 Gallop Poll, 44% of teachers experience burnout. But economics teacher Sheila Delgado says Chella's videos have helped her keep things in perspective.
“Definitely, there are days that are a lot more challenging than others, but if you have support and you have people like Lauren it makes your days a lot better.”
Chella hopes to inspire kids in the predominantly Latino community of McFarland to feel that they can do anything.
“People can look down on you depending on where you’re from and I hate that that can happen to our kids here so what I want to do is show them that they can do anything.”
Chella plans to continue making TikToks to help her students learn history
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