George Alvarez is a Social Studies Teacher at Bergenfield High School, where he has been an educator for twenty-seven of his twenty-eight years in secondary education. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Seton Hall University, a master’s degree in education from St. Peter’s University, an Executive Juris Doctor from Concord Law School, and a Master’s degree in American History and Government from Ashland University.
In addition to his work in the classroom, George has coached both boys’ and men’s basketball at the high school and collegiate levels over the past thirty years. He has been a member of the Abraham Lincoln Association, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies, and the National Council for the Social Studies. For the past eight years, he has served as a reader for the A.P. U.S. History exam.
Teaching history through primary source documents has driven George’s instruction for more than two decades, along with engaging students in project-based learning that allows them to actively “do” history. Outside the classroom, he is an active runner who has completed numerous 5Ks, a 10K, a Half Marathon, and the Walt Disney World Marathon. George proudly describes himself as a full-fledged history nerd who loves visiting historic sites. Over the past two years, he has traveled to Abraham Lincoln’s home and the Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, the Salem Witch Trials Museum, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, James Madison’s Montpelier, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and James Monroe’s home.
