Name: Jill Villasana
School Name: Muriel Williams Battle High School (“Battle”)
City, State: Columbia, Missouri
Subject(s) Taught: Government, AP U.S. Government and Politics, ACT Prep
Grade(s )Taught: Mostly 9th grade, ACT Prep is 9-12 elective
No. of Years Teaching: This is year 20!
Honors: James Madison Fellow 2004

With 20 years of teaching experience, Jill Villasana has always been a high-energy kind of teacher, which makes teaching students virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic feel “different.” Nonetheless, she can see the positive in a challenging situation.

“If a student wants to work on their assignments virtually at 11 p.m. or 6 in the morning, they have the option to do that and can get extra hours at work or care for their family members,” Villasana says. “Allowing students flexibility to work on school when they want to is an obvious benefit. For our students that plan to go to college, they are certainly being expected to manage a more collegiate schedule and work ethic.”

Battling the Pandemic

Villasana teaches at Muriel Williams Battle High School in Columbia, Missouri, a public high school built in 2013. Columbia is Missouri’s fourth most-populous and fastest growing city—its population growth was well over 20 percent between the 2000 and 2010 censuses. Because of this rapid growth, the city passed a $120 million bond issue in April 2010, partially to fund the new high school, Battle. The school is situated in a 300,000-square-foot facility and serves students in grades 9–12.

To cope with the coronavirus pandemic, Villasana says her school district just announced a three-tier plan for students this fall, including 1) all-virtual 2) hybrid two days in-class, three days virtual and 3) 100-percent in-seat.

“For secondary students, we’ve typically used an 8-period A/B block structure,” Villasana says. “This year we’re utilizing a 4×4 block based on semester, so students—and teachers—will only be managing four courses each semester. We’ll be using masks in addition to cleaning and social distancing. Our district has done a good job of prioritizing student mental health and family safety nets.”

Civility and Inclusivity

Diversity and inclusion are trends that Villasana hopes will influence social studies teachers of today and tomorrow. “I love that we are really focusing right now on an inclusive approach to social studies, trying to help all students see themselves and diverse perspectives in history and contemporary social studies,” Villasana says. “I think teachers are working hard to consider the viewpoints they are sharing with their students and working hard to facilitate development of civil discourse in their classroom communities.”

Villasana says she wants students to remember her class because it helped them understand the importance of taking civic action in their communities. “I hope something about their experience will remind them to register to vote when they are 18,” she says, “to educate themselves using reliable information, and to cast ballots in all elections.”

Name: Kim Ball
Title: Teacher
School Name: Bountiful High School
City, State: Bountiful, Utah
Subjects Taught: AP Comparative Government, AP U.S. Government, U.S. Government, Film History and Study Skills (which is a credit recovery class)
Grades Taught: 10-12, but mostly 12
No. of Years Teaching: 17 years

Nestled at the base of the majestic, snow-capped mountains of the Wasatch Range, the city of Bountiful, Utah, serves as a suburb of Salt Lake City and is home to Bountiful High School, where Kim Ball teaches AP U.S. Government and other subjects to 10th, 11th and 12th graders. Ball, who has 17 years of teaching experience, says teaching with a distance-learning format during the COVID-19 pandemic has required her to quickly adapt.

“The reason that I love teaching is I love the interaction I have with students in the classroom,” Ball says. “I like the human connection. However, I have been impressed with the technology that gives us the ability to connect with students remotely.”

Long-Distance Relationship

For her classes, Ball relies on Instructure’s popular learning management system, Canvas, where she uploads videos, audio files and PowerPoint presentations, along with other content. “I try to employ a variety of teaching methods and activities to help all of the different learners in my class,” Ball says.

For weekly videoconferencing with her students, she uses Zoom. Although Bountiful High School does not have a 1:1 learning environment, most students bring their own devices, Ball says, and all students are given the opportunity to check out a Cloudbook from the school.

Paperless, Please

Ball has been using the SGAP Student Forum newsletter and other civics materials in her classroom since 2011. Although she used to receive the monthly paper mailings, in 2018, Ball voluntarily switched to paperless in order to save paper. Now she relies solely on the SGAP e-newsletter, which is emailed to enrolled teachers four times a semester, or eight times a year.

“I love the paperless version of the SGAP newsletter,” Ball says. “Each of the issues in the SGAP newsletter relates to policy that is looking to be made, has been made and needs changing, or in some way impacts policy. I select six to 10 of the issues and then divide my classes into groups of about four students and have them answer questions relating to their issue and policy.”

In the Legislative Loop

Ball says she likes the pro/con format of the Student Forum newsletter because it helps students make more educated assessments of current legislative issues. This is especially important, she believes, in today’s world of politics.

“The way my students get information is totally different than what I am used to and what their parents and grandparents have done,” Ball says. “Our sources have been TV, radio and newspaper. My students today get their news through social media. I think it is important to help them navigate through this and teach them how to evaluate different sources.

Ultimately, Ball wants her students to remember that they mattered in her class. “I also want them to remember they should educate themselves and vote,” Ball adds. “One person can and does make a difference.”

Vital Stats

Name: Paul Martin
Title:  Social Studies Teacher
School Name: Friend Public School
City, State: Friend, Nebraska
Subject(s) Taught: Geography, American History, World History, American Government, Sociology
Grade(s)Taught: 7th – 12th grade
No. of Years Teaching: 32 years 

The coronavirus pandemic has changed Americans’ lives dramatically, and one profession greatly affected by these changes is teaching. Like so many teachers today, Paul Martin has had to quickly shift from in-person teaching to a distance-learning format for his classes due to school closures where he teaches.

Going the Distance

Martin teaches American Government and other subjects to 7th through 12th graders at Friend Public School in Friend, Nebraska. Located thirty miles west of Lincoln, Nebraska, Friend is a small town with a population of around 1,000. Fortunately, the school has enough Chromebooks and tablets to cover most of the students and nearly all students have internet connections at home, save for one or two. 

“This was my first day to use distance learning to connect with my students during this time of school closures,” Martin says. “The challenge will be getting comfortable delivering good, meaningful lessons to the students online. I am glad to at least be meeting with my students and I sense they are happy to have that connection as well.” 

Like many teachers across the nation, Martin has not had much experience teaching online and the sudden switch in format has required him to be nimble. “I do feel that I am learning some good ideas and I’m having to adapt and be stretched each day that I am not able to meet face-to-face with the students,” he says. “It can be challenging to keep up with the new and quickly changing technologies.” 

Technology also offers good learning opportunities as well, he says. “Using new technologies will provide social studies teachers with new avenues for instruction,” Martin says. “It is important to provide our students with opportunities that will prepare them for our ever-changing world.” 

Thank You for Being in Friend

Teaching in a small community such as the city of Friend, Nebraska, was not what Martin pictured for his life. After all, he grew up attending one of the largest high schools in Nebraska. “Now I find myself teaching in one of the smaller schools in our state,” Martin says. “While course offerings may be limited, the opportunities for students to be involved in extra-curricular and other school groups are great. I have really come to enjoy living in this community and teaching at the Friend Public School.” 

Martin’s philosophy of teaching is that learning is a lifelong process. “It is also important that students develop the skills and understanding that will help prepare them to be good citizens who are able to make positive contributions to the community,” he adds. 

For the last eight years, Martin has used the SGAP program in his American Government classes. “I appreciate the timely topics and discussions SGAP generates,” he says. “Using SGAP in my classroom can really bring to life the concepts I am teaching and helps the students make important learning connections.” 

What Martin hopes his students remember about his class is that he cares for them first and foremost. “I also want each one of my students to know they have the potential to make a positive difference in society and the lives of others,” Martin says. “I want them to have an appreciation for our great nation and know that they can have a voice in our government.”