The National Council for the Social Studies recently named Indiana University High School instructor Pat Wilson the Outstanding Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year. Wilson teaches 31A, U.S. History: First Semester, 41G, U.S. Government: First Semester, and 42G, U.S. Government: Second Semester (Citizenship and Civics). In addition to teaching for IUHS, she also teaches at Bloomington High School North and the IU School of Education.
Wilson will receive $2,500, a commemorative gift, a one-year membership to the council, and the opportunity to speak at the annual conference in San Diego this fall. “Honestly, I was very surprised that I was selected,” said Wilson. “We have 50 states, and how many social studies teachers—and they picked me?”
Talk with Wilson for a while, however, and the reasons she was selected become pretty clear. Her enthusiasm for education and civic participation are evident in both her words and her actions. In addition to her various teaching responsibilities, Wilson is the co-founder and sponsor for the Bloomington High School North chapter of Habitat for Humanity, which began building its seventh home this summer. “Our first year with Habitat, we raised about $500 and helped build a ramp,” said Wilson. “Within two years, we were co-sponsoring a house and providing all the food and labor for it.”
Wilson says her job is to ask the right questions and provide the right information to engage her students in civil discourse. She sees herself as a facilitator of discussion and action, and views her classroom (whether physical or virtual) as a roundtable. “I want to empower students so that they see their place at the roundtable,” she explained. “I have strengths, and they have strengths. My job is to empower them and support their growth, and to learn from them as much as they learn from me. We all win.”
Students in Wilson’s Bloomington North classroom are required to take part in civic activities. A few years ago, her students completed a project for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The students worked with anthropologists and community members to write the history of Banneker School, a Bloomington segregated school from the early 1900s until 1955. “The project became part of a permanent museum display at the site of the school, which is now a community center. It was a fantastic experience that gave them the opportunity to get out and work with experts in the field on addressing real problems in their community,” said Wilson.
Adapting her methods to distance education has required Wilson to garner her creative energies. “Indiana University High School has provided a great challenge,” she said. “I had to develop different ways to operate with students, ways to communicate with people. I think it has improved both my ability to teach and my face-to-face communications, as well.”
Though she can’t facilitate local projects for her distance students, she does try to inspire them to involve themselves. “My goal is to get them out in their communities, talking to people in their communities, asking questions and getting involved,” said Wilson.
With the example she sets by her own actions, she does just that.
