By Lauren Barbour
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Social Studies teacher Jason Duncan received the James Madison Memorial Fellowship, a prestigious grant of $24,000, allowing him to pursue a second master’s degree teaching American history and government and even after years of teaching, Duncan is eager to continue learning.
“I consider myself a lifelong learner,” he said, “I’m just fascinated with studying the principles of the Constitution and I just don’t think there’s any end to learning.”
The James Madison Memorial Fellowship is a grant awarded to teachers across the country who’ve displayed their dedication to civic education and constitutional study. They’re also able to participate in a month-long study at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. “It’s considered one of the most prestigious awards in social studies education for teachers to receive,” he said, “I felt honored to get it.” Co-teacher and Social Studies teacher Asialyn Wong said, “I definitely think he deserves it. He definitely works very hard and like I said, he’s very knowledgable.”
Duncan has chosen to pursue his degree through Ashland University, Ohio. “A lot of the James Madison fellows attend this place to pursue their graduate studies because as a teacher working full time, it offers you the flexibility of online and live online learning environments,” he explained. After taking his first graduate course over the summer, he was impressed with the communication achievable, even online. “It was the first time I’ve ever done an online course but the interesting thing about this course was that it was live online so I could interact and see the other students from across the country,” he said.
Although having technically been in school for years, for Duncan, the shift from teacher to student has still been a big one. “I haven’t been in school for formal education myself in over 10 years,” he said, “I had to write a 12-page research paper so I sympathize with all those students who have to write History Day papers.” However, Wong has confidence in him. “He’ll be fine. He’s accomplished a lot of things in his lifetime and this will be a breeze for him,” she said.
Nevertheless, he plans to take full advantage of the opportunity that has been presented to him. “I have that passion of just completely always learning new things and transforming the way you see the world. I think entirely differently than when I was 20 years old and the reason I think completely differently is because I’ve studied and I’ve experienced it,” he commented.
Simultaneously teaching and studying, Duncan’s dedication to his subject ensures that he’ll fulfill his wish of continuous learning.
