Jefferson High School teacher George Hawkins named South Dakota's Teacher of the Year
George Hawkins, a U.S. History and AP Government teacher at Jefferson High School in Sioux Falls, has been named the South Dakota Teacher of the Year for 2024.
Hawkins had also been named the Sioux Falls School District’s 35th annual Dr. John W. Harris Teacher of the Year in February, and the regional finalist for the Teacher of the Year from region 2 in May.
He began his 12th year teaching this fall and his classes focus on project-based learning, or teaching by assigning history-related projects to his classes. Before becoming a teacher, Hawkins studied law and worked as a lawyer for several years.
“Teaching is much more than content,” he said in a press release. “Teaching is developing those foundations. That’s really the bedrock of what’s going to create a good classroom.”
South Dakota Department of Education Secretary Joe Graves announced Hawkins won during a banquet Thursday night at the Highland Conference Center in Mitchell.
“George is the embodiment of excellence in teaching,” Graves said in a news release. “His ability to take what he has learned and experienced outside of the classroom, and incorporate that into lessons about history and government, is a gift to his students today.”
More: Sioux Falls School District names George Hawkins as Teacher of the Year
The four other finalists for the award included Caitlyn Graf, a math teacher at Milbank High School; Valerie Nelson, a kindergarten teacher at Chamberlain Elementary School; Lindsey Bachman, a third grade teacher from Mobridge-Pollock Upper Elementary School; and Alyssa Walters, an English Language Arts teacher at Spearfish High School.
Hawkins will go on to represent South Dakota in the National Teacher of the Year award ceremony in Washington D.C. next spring. He received a $5,000 grant from the West River Foundation to use as he wishes, and a $2,000 honorarium from the South Dakota Board of Regents to present a series of professional development seminars to aspiring teachers.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: George Hawkins named South Dakota Teacher of the Year for 2024
