By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
In Pat Carney’s social studies classroom, the lessons reach far beyond history. He learned long ago that students need to feel valued in the present if they are going to excel at studying the past.
When Carney began teaching 21 years ago, his focus was to teach students how America began.
“I want to pass on my love of history, to help students to understand who we are as Americans, and where we came from.”
Carney still shares that love of history. But the lessons have expanded to show his love for his students.
“I enjoy teaching young men and women how to respect each other,” he said. “They have value and they matter.”
Carney was recognized Thursday as one of the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club’s inspirational educators.
Carney described his Bowling Green Middle School classroom as a space for respect and tolerance.
“In my classroom, all students will be treated fairly,” he said.
And in his classroom, students learn in a variety of ways – through storytelling, questions requiring higher level thinking, skits and game show activities.
“I strive to use history to teach more – kindness, courage, perseverance and tolerance,” he said.
So when the eighth graders learn about the explorers Lewis and Clark, they learn about perseverance. When they study the life of Harriet Tubman, they explore her courage. And when they cover slavery and Native Americans, they discuss the value of kindness and tolerance.
Middle school students understand the purpose of studying history to prevent a repeat of shameful acts of the past. But they aren’t always able to make the connection between slavery of the past with current mass shootings and ethnic cleansing, he said.
So Carney helps them draw the connection between the horrors of the past with current intolerance and racism.
“It begins with how we treat each other,” he said.
Carney identified three “aha” moments in his teaching career.
The first occurred about 15 years ago when he was switched from teaching American history to world civilization. It was not a move he wanted, and Carney said he complained to a fellow teacher.
“Good teaching is good teaching,” his co-worker said. And Carney knew he was right. “Making connections with students is more important than content.”
The next moment was about eight years ago, when Carney began “inviting” struggling students to his classroom before school began each day. The early morning start time was intended to be punitive, but it turned into a gift to many of the students.
“What I started to notice was a connection and a relationship began to form,” and he learned that many of the students had homes that weren’t conducive to learning.
Gradually students opened up about not having lights to study by at night because their parents didn’t pay electric bills. They told of focusing on getting younger siblings away from dishes flying in the kitchen, or of the relief when Friday rolled around since payday meant they would have a good meal that night.
“They just needed someone to connect with at school. Someone to show them that they matter,” he said.
The last “aha” moment he described occurred two years ago when Ann McCarty started an advisory program that showed students they were valued members of the community.
“This is what our adolescents need,” he said. “It’s a place for students to go where they have someone to listen.”
Carney’s own inspirations reach back to his parents – his mom was a teacher, and his dad an Army veteran and businessman. It was instilled with his religion and his involvement in Boy Scouts. He continues to find inspiration at home from his wife, Lisa, and their three children.
He can be seen in the community, running with the school cross country team he coaches, and leading a local Boy Scout troop. For many years, Carney has organized the Veterans Day program at the middle school, which invites local veterans to visit and be recognized for their service.
At school, his inspiration has come from people like Ann McVey.
“She had a true belief that students can succeed,” he said. And she taught Carney the proper way to not escalate conflict with middle school students, he said.
Carney also found lessons from fellow teachers, Duff Madaras and Brian Tucker.
“He was a master of getting kids to believe that anything they achieved was a great achievement,” he said of Madaras.
And Tucker, who recently died, was “a treasure that will truly be missed in Bowling Green.”
“All of these people have helped inspire who I am as a teacher,” Carney said.
