Every teacher is a chalkboard champion in my book, but sometimes I discover an educator that shows even the best teacher among us how to be even better. One such educator is Alan Haskvitz, a middle school teacher from Walnut, California.
Alan, who was born in 1942, has earned four degrees and possesses credentials to teach English, social studies, special education, gifted education, journalism, and business. His career as an educator has spanned more than four decades. Currently, Alan teaches history at Suzanne Middle School in the Walnut Unified School District in Walnut, California. He also serves as the chair of his school’s Social Studies Department.
When Alan first came to Walnut, his students’ standardized test scores were only in the 22nd percentile. However, by using his unique teaching methods, he helped his students improve their scores into the 94th percentile. This was the largest gain in California history.
What are Alan’s unique teaching methods? Well, he introduced “quality circles” in the classroom. A quality circle is a group of students who work cooperatively to identify, analyze, and solve a problem. Also, Alan was one of the first educators to actively promote “service learning” as part of the social studies curriculum. Service learning combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a practical, progressive learning experience that also meets the needs of the larger community.
For his achievements in the classroom, Alan was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in 1997. He has also been named a “Hero in Education” by Reader’s Digest. He has recognized as a National Middle Level Teacher of the Year, and a USA Today All-Star Teacher. In addition, this chalkboard champion has been honored with the Robert Cherry International Award for Great Teachers, an award usually given only to university-level instructors.
To learn more about this amazing educator, see his biography at Alan Haskvitz. You can also check out the website that Alan works on in collaboration with the Horace Mann Companies, ReachEveryChild.com.