This is a continuing series of PAGE One profiling throughout the school year Georgia's 2020 Teacher of the Year finalists.
Carlos Hernandez
General Ray Davis Middle School, Rockdale County By Meg Thornton, PAGE One Editor
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ockdale County veteran teacher Carlos Hernandez does not fear a world in decline. Quite the opposite. His knowledgeable, techno-savvy and caring eighth-grade social students and their generation at large have imbued him with a strong faith. “I have great hope that they will rise up and answer many of the questions that have been unsolvable,” said the General Ray Davis Middle School teacher. “I see a future, a generation that is going to take care of me, and I am not scared. … After my years of teaching are up and I am enjoying retirement, I believe my quality of life will be improved by the innovations in healthcare and overall lifestyle that this generation will [develop].” Hernandez sees his role as fostering that potential. As such, he deftly uses technology to break lessons into menu-like offerings to engage students and accommodate
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varied learning styles and abilities. Students showcase their talent and abilities through journaling, storyboards, poetry, songs, interpretive dance and more. “[They have] tools at their disposal to create things that former generations could only imagine,” said Hernandez. “And they have the ability to multitask in ways that leave me jealous. … The potential that lives within them is ready to be tapped into and explored.” Hernandez encourages fellow educators to think about the possibilities afforded by advancements in this changing world and “adjust our teaching to reach this new generation of thinkers.” His social studies students are already action-oriented. In studying current events, they often discuss what they can do to help. After Hurricane Matthew barreled through Haiti, for example, his students mobilized to assist a national Food
for the Poor initiative. “My first-period class very quickly started to organize within the classroom, and we hatched out a plan,” relayed Hernandez. “Before we knew it, we had our school videography class involved in filming a commercial, we had students creating posters and signs, we had students making donation containers for each homeroom, and classes all over the school joined in creative ways to raise money for this effort. Over the next several weeks we raised three times the amount that we set as a goal.” Hernandez believes such activities connect students with the larger world. “Our students are able to think outside of themselves … and make a great change as far away as Haiti and beyond.” Such experiences prompt students to recognize needs in their own community as well. Hernandez said he has March/April 2020
