Mrs. Dawn Rhoden of Tattnall County High School (TCHS) was honored at the Monday, November 18, 2024, regular Board of Education meeting as the VFW 7764 Teacher of the Year for the 2024-25 school year. VFW 7764 Commander Ronnie McCall and Quartermaster Ronnie Thomas made the presentation.
VFW posts across the nation select local history, citizenship, or social studies teachers annually who promote good citizenship and patriotism in their classes. Local winners compete at the district level, and, if successful, they can compete all the way to the national level.
Mrs. Rhoden teaches a current events class at TCHS, which falls under the category of social studies, and students focus on current presidential and congressional politics as well as events around the world that have the potential to impact the United States and democracy. At the Monday meeting, individual student work was displayed on the interior walls of the Tattnall County Board of Education that reviewed achievements and failures of Presidents from the mid-20th Century to the present along with highlights of the 2024 presidential race. Students in her class spoke to those present and outlined the class curriculum that stressed individual participation by students in a daily review of world affairs, such as the current Russian-Ukraine conflict as well as the Middle East War between Israel and Hamas. This year is special because of the 2024 Presidential election, and students have followed related news events since early August. They created individual United States maps to indicate political support throughout the 50 states and Puerto Rico, which included the seven swing states and the Democratic Blue Wall on which Democrats pinned their hopes for success. Students were encouraged to voice their opinions in class, but it was a class rule that they had to respect the rights of others to voice opposing opinions.
It was a very impressive display that prompted Chairman of the Tattnall County Board of Education Richard Bland to comment that he wished everyone (perhaps nationwide) could take her class since these students displayed a much more positive and sensible attitude about the election in comparison to the general population.
VFW 7764 Commander Ronnie McCall provided opening remarks for the presentation and stated that he enjoyed the class very much through his granddaughter, Coa Corbett.
“In the afternoons and mornings, we discussed everything from the Middle East War to the Ukraine-Russian conflict as well as the 2024 election,” he said. “As an old high school history teacher, I really enjoyed those conversations. She absolutely loved that class. She could have taken it as a sophomore but decided to take it this year to follow and better understand events surrounding the election. She had a reaction to a flu shot that caused a relatively high temperature and had to miss school in late October, and she was texting students every day to see what was happening in Mrs. Rhoden’s class. I think that class is a model for education that students really remember because they are an essential part of it.”
After McCall’s comments, Quartermaster Ronnie Thomas read Mrs. Rhoden’s application summary that he developed from her educational résumé. He began by quoting President Ronald Reagan who said:
“Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction. We don’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and their children’s children what it was once like in the United States when men were free.”
Quartermaster Thomas went on to describe Dawn’s classroom initiatives and goals, which included “investing her students with an appreciation of their country, their individual rights, and their responsibilities to our nation.” Her philosophy of teaching involves presenting students with both sides of issues and allowing them to draw their own conclusions. She strongly believes that it is not her place to indoctrinate students but rather to provide an environment for exploring issues and determining one’s own opinion drawn from the facts. She is proud of the fact that she has provided over 1000 Tattnall County students with those opportunities during her teaching career.
Commander McCall finished his introduction by pointing out that he was 80 years old and Quartermaster Thomas was less than a decade behind.
“I think we agree that if we are alive in 2028 and you are still teaching this class, we are going to apply for a seat on the back row for your class. Perhaps you could teach a pair of old dogs some new tricks,” he said.
Based on his comments, Board Chairman Richard Bland might join them.
