Teacher of the Week: Stephen Jones

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Stephen Jones is a very busy and popular teacher at John T. Hoggard High School in Wilmington.  It has a lot to do with his philosophy that history can include a lot of interesting and often funny stories.

“There is plenty of tragedy,” Jones says, ” but it also has a lot of stories we can laugh at.”

He teaches Advanced Placement World History as well as the International Baccalaureate programs 21st Century Topics.  He admits it “keeps him on his toes,” but also says it lets him treat his students as if they are already in college.  He says “at their age they are inquisitive and I learn a lot from them as well.  It really helps make them feel like they are in a college classroom.”

Jones teaches his students for two consecutive years and also takes many of them on educational trips.  Recently he took a trip to Japan to show his students relics and instruct them on their relation to their coursework on pre-Meiji Japan.

He does all of this with a sense of humor, saying his kids laugh at him “probably because I don’t comb my hair.”  Humor, however, is important to the teaching process for Jones.  He says students “are more involved when it’s not always serious.  History is funny.  There’s plenty of tragedy, but there is plenty of funny to share as well.”

He says his students are very aware of current events and more involved than ever.  “They’re very aware of local news, national news and international happenings,” he says.  I always tell them to remember Mark Twain’s comment on history:  ‘History doesn’t necessarily repeat, but it rhymes'”

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