BATESVILLE, Ind. – A St. Louis School Social Studies teacher is being recognized by a local VFW Post.
Batesville Post 3183 selected Janet Wilson as its local VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award recipient for the junior high level.
K-12 educators that show exceptional commitment to teaching Americanism and patriotism can be nominated by fellow teachers, students, supervisors and interested individuals.
Once selected by a local VFW Post, the instructors are forwarded to the state-level. State winners are passed along to VFW National Headquarters for consideration in the national awards contest.
Wilson has taught social studies to St. Louis students in grades sixth through eight for the past seventeen years. For her, the job is to help the young learners better understand the past and present.
“My goal is to sell civic responsibility. My goal is to make current events and history relevant,” Wilson said.
“It is wonderful to be recognized but at the same time I am doing what I love to do.”
Most students would describe history class as learning about people and events in the past. Wilson had a classroom full of eighth graders on the morning of September 11, 2001 when history was happening before their eyes.
She recalls, “I just remember standing there thinking, and I was a little bit lucid. I thought ‘Oh my, how am I going to do this, how do I explain this on their terms and not scare them?’”
Wilson also notes the first time she taught a classroom of students that were too young to not have a memory of the terrorist attacks.
“One year, I remember asking students to tell me the very first time you heard about 9/11 and where were you and how did it make you feel.”
“These kids are just looking at me with these blank stares,” Wilson remembers.
“Out of the clear blue sky, I went ‘Oh, this wasn’t part of your living history,’ it felt as if the earth moved,” Wilson said.
The veteran teacher credits success to students, colleagues and school principals.
St. Louis Principal Chad Moeller calls the nomination, “well deserved and to be honest, for her, it is probably long overdue.”
Each year, VFW Posts across the country select a classroom elementary, junior high and high school teacher whose curriculum focuses on citizenship education topics—for at least half of the school day in a classroom environment—can be nominated for the Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award. Winners receive:
- A $1,000 award for professional development expenses.
- A $1,000 award for his/her school.
- Two award plaques: one for the teacher, the other for his/her school.
- An all-expenses-paid trip to attend a VFW conference to receive their award.
