A John Yeates Middle School teacher and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior were recognized Thursday by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Seventh-grade teacher Christina Klein, a teaching veteran of 28 years, was one of the top five educators statewide for the organization’s annual Outstanding Teacher of American History contest, according to Suffolk’s Constantia Chapter DAR member Faye Sobel.

Maggie More, who graduates from NSA on June 4, won a $500 scholarship from the Constantia Chapter for her winning essay. She will attend The College of William & Mary in the fall. More was unable to attend Thursday’s DAR awards luncheon at Cedar Point Country Club.

Through genealogical research and a family reunion, Klein says she has learned that her grandfather seven generations back was John Yates, the namesake of the school where she teaches. Early in his life, John Yeates — the benefactor who, in 1731, provided land and operating funds for two public schools in North Suffolk — spelled his name Yates, according to Klein.

Klein said she encourages students to look at history through the lens of its era.

“I want them to not judge history but to think about it from the perspective of people who were living it at the time,” said Klein. “We live in these times and make decisions based on that.”

It’s important to remember that past generations of people did the same thing, she said.

Klein said inherited her love of history through hearing generations of own family’s stories. She and her brothers grew up hearing about history from people who lived it firsthand.

According to family lore, her grandmother always remembered the first time she saw a car, Klein said. A youngster, she was on her way to school when she saw it broken down on the side of the road.

When her teacher heard about it, classes apparently dismissed for the day so that everyone could go watch the ongoing car repairs, Klein recounted.