VFW names Teacher of the Year
Published 7:27 am Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Paul Revere, George Washington, Frederick Douglass and Dread Scott all have desks in Pat Anderson’s classroom — at least in spirit.
Each one, a legendary figure in American history, has been embodied by one or more of Anderson’s 82 fifth grade students at Neveln Elementary.
“When I teach history, I will ask a student to stand up, and I’ll say, ‘Now, you are the French,’ and to another I’ll say, ‘You are the Native Americans,” Anderson explained. “This makes the country’s past more real to them.”
Anderson’s efforts to bring American history to life and more motivated Neveln Principal Dewey Schara to nominate her for the local Veterans of the Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year award.
The local VFW Post 1216 saw what Schara saw, as did the larger VFW District 1, and ultimately the VFW State Department.
Anderson will accept The VFW’s National Citizenship Education Teacher’s Award for the State of Minnesota this weekend in the Twin Cities.
The award goes to elementary, junior high and high school teachers who teach citizenship education topics and promote America’s history and traditions. A national winner will be selected in each category at a later date.
Schara, who came to Neveln this fall after spending more than 10 years at Ellis Middle School, said he knew about Anderson’s high standards for students well before he became her boss.
“She prepares her students for the transition to middle school, and I have had several parents compliment her on that over the years,” he said.
Parents of Anderson’s students, as well as her colleagues, wrote letters of recommendation to accompany Schara’s nomination to the VFW.
Anderson, who teaches fifth grade reading in addition to American History and Citizenship, mixes fundamental learning concepts into her classes. From imparting note-taking skills to giving students a preview of lecture style instruction — Anderson makes sure her students are ready for sixth grade, Schara said.
Anderson has held stints in the fourth grade and also spend time as an interventionist during her 24-year career with Austin Public Schools, but has spent the bulk of her time with fifth graders.
“I love working with them to understand and be interested in American history, and to increase their level of reading,” she said.
Her fifth-graders begin with lessons of the explorers and follow the country’s past into today. They visit with veterans, and they sent 82 holiday cards to Iraq and will send 82 Valentines Day cards to Afghanistan this year.
In May, she will bring her students on a field trip to Fort Snelling to enrich their understanding of the Civil War.
“I challenge them to think about what it means that servicemen and women have bleed and died throughout history to bring them freedom,” Anderson said.
She said they need that foundation of understanding to grasp the citizenship component in her course.
“Citizenship, well, it’s about learning from the past, participating in the present and looking toward the future.”
These are lessons, Anderson said, that many teachers and VFW representatives are working to share across the state and country.
“There are so many people who deserve this award,” Anderson said.