"Young people are our future": Dr. Brent E. Heath, NCSS Middle School Teacher of the Year.

Meet Dr. Brent E. Heath, winner of the 2004 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Outstanding Middle School Teacher of the Year award. Heath is the Social Studies Chair/GATE Facilitator at De Anza Middle School in Ontario, California. A classroom teacher for 30 years, he now teaches U.S. history to 8th-graders. He also teaches two trimesters of a criminal-law elective and one of an environmental-ethics course.

NCSS is the nation's largest association for social-studies professionals. Its annual Middle School Teacher of the Year award, presented on November 19, 2004, honored Heath's "perfect curricular mix for employing instructional materials creatively and effectively."

"I have a three-pronged approach," Heath told JS. First, he establishes a foundation by using primary-source materials to put the time period being studied into a historical/geographical context. Next, his students read historical fiction set in that time period--"vicarious learning," said Heath, that "takes them deeper into the topic." Then he has students put the historical fact and fiction together, developing critical-thinking skills as they look for relevance, historical context, and accuracy of details. Finally, Heath brings in the humanities, integrating art, music, and literature of the period--"things that enrich the human experience"--with what students have been studying.

For Heath, all the work he puts into his teaching is a labor of love. "Every day is a different day, and the students are all different," he said. "Teaching has enriched my life, and is the greatest blessing in the world." To Heath, "Teaching is the noblest profession in America."

Asked if there was anything he would like to say to other teachers, Heath replied, "Follow your passion; motivate, inspire, encourage, and lead with humility. Young people are our future. Engage their minds, provoke civic engagement, and promote civic virtue."