George Hawkins is a social studies teacher for 11th and 12th graders at the Project Based Learning (PBL) Academy at Jefferson High School in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Hawkins teaches Advanced Placement (AP) government, dual credit government and co-teaches American Experience (U.S. history, English III and American film history).

Hawkins earned his Bachelor of Arts in government and international affairs from Augustana University. After student teaching, he decided that teaching was not for him. Hawkins then earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of South Dakota School of Law and began practicing as an attorney in Watertown, South Dakota, and later in Sioux Falls.

Hawkins traded a career in law for a career in education in 2012, when he began to teach at New Technology High School, a school that utilized project-based learning. He helped to develop a co-taught course, American Experience, at the school and taught the school’s first AP course in government.

Hawkins was awarded the 2016 James Madison Fellowship for the state of South Dakota, which helps teachers who wish to pursue further education focused on the Constitution. He completed the requirements of the fellowship and earned a master’s degree in American history and government from Ashland University.

As a teacher, Hawkins likes to have students learn by doing, which is the practice that inspired him to teach in a PBL classroom. He finds that students are more engaged in the learning process when using this teaching model, allowing him to develop stronger connections with students.