Sioux Falls social studies teacher gets South Dakota's top educator award

Jefferson High School teacher in his 12th year teaching

A Sioux Falls high school teacher is the 2024 South Dakota Teacher of the Year.

George Hawkins, a social studies teacher at Jefferson High School, this week was announced as the South Dakota Department of Education’s top teacher of the year during a banquet in Mitchell by Education Secretary Joseph Graves.

“George is the embodiment of excellence in teaching,” Graves said of Hawkins, who’s in his 12th year of teaching this fall. “His ability to take what he has learned and experienced outside of the classroom, and incorporate that into lessons about history and government, is a gift to his students today.” 

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Hawkins teaches American Experience, AP Government and dual credit Government. His classes focus on project-based learning, which means he teaches by assigning history-related projects to his classes. The students work on projects and learn through that experience. 

In a previously recorded video promoting the education profession that was played at the conference, Hawkins explained the importance of building relationships with students and helping them to interact with one another.

“Teaching is much more than content,” he said. “Teaching is developing those foundations. That’s really the bedrock of what’s going to create a good classroom.”

Hawkins’ pathway to the profession was a non-traditional one. He studied law and worked as a lawyer for several years before becoming a teacher. 

As South Dakota Teacher of the Year, Hawkins receives prizes including a $5,000 grant from the West River Foundation to use as he wishes, and a $2,000 honorarium from the South Dakota Board of Regents to present a series of professional development seminars to aspiring teachers. Additional prizes are made possible through the generosity of the South Dakota Retailers Association and the South Dakota Education Association. 

Hawkins will represent South Dakota as a candidate for the 2024 National Teacher of the Year award. The winner will be announced during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., next spring. The National Teacher of the Year Program began in 1952 and continues as the oldest, most prestigious national honors program that focuses public attention on excellence in teaching.