Justin Been from Henryetta High School and H-Town Theatre has been awarded VFW Post 539 Teacher of the Year.
Justin Been from Henryetta High School and H-Town Theatre has been awarded VFW Post 539 Teacher of the Year.
Been and his wife were in attendance at the meeting of VFW Post 539 as he was presented the plaque.
Been has directed numerous shows for the H-Town Theatre including:
• Sound of Music (2019-2020)
• Oklahoma (2021)
• Beauty and the Beast (2021/2022)
• The Adams Family (2022/2023) In 2022 and 2023, Been raised $86,000 to help fund 26 students and eight staff members to go on a trip to New York City to experience Broadway musical shows.
I’ve seen some of the H-Town Theatre shows which are truly evident of Justin Been’s and all of his student’s hard work and devotion in making the shows so outstanding and exceptionally well done.
The other subjects that Been has taught students include Humanities, World History, Psychology, U.S. History, Geography, and Drivers Education.
He has coached students in softball for 22 years, baseball for 19 years, and golf for five years. The teams that Been has coached have qualified for 11 state championships.
Been has coordinated Veterans programs at Beggs Public Schools for seven years. He also has been actively involved in Henryetta School’s veteran’s programs for the past five years.
As the Athletic Director, he coordinated multiple Veterans and Military Appreciation Nights at home football games at both Beggs and Henryetta which also involved establishing relationships with veterans from both communities and presenting appreciation awards to veterans selected and invited to participate in both Veterans programs and Appreciation Nights.
Addison Chavez, one of Been’s students, stated that Coach Been “has many amazing teaching qualities such as being one of the most encouraging teachers and no matter what, he always has a great attitude and encourages his students to never give up. He’s very determined and organized which has been the main reason that the H-Town Theatre shows are very well designed and so fun to watch. His way of helping students succeed by pushing them to get better at whatever their goals are have been crucial in student development.”
Braden Lollis, another theater and drama student, reported that Justin Been is kind hearted, very reliable, and very hardworking. “He provides his teaching guidance to his students every step of the way in developing student’s ability to overcome any challenge and to teach them the most efficient way to reach their goals and be successful. Justin has greatly supported his students through any and all of the problems that they faced and has given great advice on how to get past those obstacles.”
Another student, Sheldon Andrews from H-Town Theatre drama class, reported to me that Justin’s teaching techniques are very effective because he really meets them on their level to help them understand what and how to improve and achieve growth not only as a student but as a person.
Justin Been is genuinely passionate for helping his students and leading his students to success. Been is a dedicated teacher and an absolutely great role model.