By Sarah Larkin Students are obsessed with their grades instead of actually obtaining a quality education where crucial lessons may be learned. Teachers like Mr. Wagner are more concerned with shaping the minds of the upcoming generation than helping students get an “A.” As a teacher of AP U.S. Government and Politics and AP Microeconomics, Mr. Wagner is an eyewitness to the fixation many top students have with their grades. Mr. Wagner was a Wilson student himself for a while; he went to Lower Heidelberg Elementary School and then moved onto Wilson Southern Junior High until eighth grade when his family moved. It was off to Ohio for Mr. Wagner where he started his high school career at Turpin High School in Cincinnati. After spending ninth and tenth grade in Ohio, Mr. Wagner finished his high school years in Connecticut and graduated from Trumbull High School. Throughout and even prior to all these years of schools, Mr. Wagner always held an interest for social studies such as history, geography, and government. Accordingly, Mr. Wagner went to college for a degree in Social Studies at Penn State University. It was in Mr. Wagner’s first observation at Penn State that a passion for teaching sparked inside of him. After experiencing what it was like to be in a classroom, Mr. Wagner said he realized how much he “enjoyed connecting with kids, sharing [knowledge] with them...and cultivating their interest in learning more.” After three years at Penn State, Mr. Wagner transferred to West Chester University to finish his college education and get his degree. Later, once he was a teacher, Mr. Wagner went on to get his masters at Kutztown University. Right out of college, this freshly inspired student got a teaching job in the Wilson School District at Southern Junior High where he taught social studies courses. At Southern, he helped coach the football team with Mr. Covell and was also a co-advisor for Southern’s Student Council. With twenty years of teaching at Wilson now under his belt, Mr. Wagner is currently a beloved teacher at the high school. Mr. Wagner describes himself as a storyteller which is reflected in his classroom through his lecture and discussion focused teaching style. He utilizes relevant and compelling stories and examples in order to keep his students in government or economics. Students are expected to participate in class discussions to further their understanding and develop their own ideas. Outside of the classroom, Mr. Wagner has to continue his role as a storyteller as he interacts with his two children, Jackson and Maria. He loves to spend time with his family, which includes his two kids and fellow Wilson teacher Mrs. Wagner. His family loves to go on road trips, and they plan to go to all forty-eight states in the continental U.S. starting with a trip to New England this upcoming summer. Without his kids, Mr. Wagner enjoys riding his Harley. He also likes to play golf and go camping in his spare time, which he doesn’t have much of with two young kids. Watching TV shows and movies is another pastime of Mr. Wagner who is a self-proclaimed movie buff. A goal in Mr. Wagner’s life has always been world domination, but besides that, Mr. Wagner hopes to connect with his students in order to foster an interest in a field that will last a lifetime. Engagement and connection is the priority in his teaching while actually teaching the information can only come after a relationship is formed. Mr. Wagner’s personalized approach to teaching helps to create a better relationship between not only himself and the student, but also the material and the student. His system allows students to become enthusiastic for actual content rather than their next “A.” Though he may not be able to achieve world domination (yet), Mr. Wagner can take pride in the fact that he has inspired so many students.
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