William Thomas is Maryland’s 2009 Teacher of the Year. Thomas, who teaches government at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in Prince George’s County, has a bachelor’s degree in social studies from the State University of New York at Albany and a master’s in reading education from Bowie State University. He credits his success to his parents, who strongly encouraged him to pursue a college degree although neither of them attended college, and encouraged nightly Bible reading.
What’s the most challenging thing about being a teacher?
I always say this job would be a cakewalk if it weren’t for the paperwork: There is a lot of grading, a lot of lesson planning, a lot of organizing. There are a lot of days when I work an average of 12 to 14 hours a day — I put in two to three hours every day after school, and sometimes before school, too.
Why did you decide to teach government?
It is one of the most practical and applicable subjects you can teach, particularly in high school. It is very easy to relate what I teach every day to something that is going on in the news. We covered lessons about the Electoral College recently; their assignment was to watch how the map played out on election night. The bailout bill going through Congress was a prime opportunity to go step-by-step through the process of how a bill becomes a law.
Any advice for parents of kids you teach?
Stay involved every step of the way. Make sure you are monitoring your children’s progress. I always encourage parents to engage their students in political conversations every day. The same conversations parents have at work and with their friends, my students are at the age now where they need to be having those conversations with them, too. I also encourage parents to come in and observe; it forces everybody to elevate their performance. Teachers go the extra mile when they know they’re being observed, and it’s amazing to see how different some students behave when they know their parents are watching.
