Woodland Park High School (WPHS) Social Studies Teacher Andrew Pappadakis was selected as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post #6051 of Woodland Park Teacher of the Year!
The VFW Teacher of the Year award contest recognizes exceptional teachers for their outstanding commitment to teaching Americanism and patriotism to their students. Each year, a classroom elementary, junior high and high school teacher whose curriculum focuses on citizenship education topics is chosen and then submitted to the Colorado VFW District 5 for the state award.
“While I sincerely appreciate the recognition, awards like this make me a little uncomfortable, as there are a number of my colleagues that I think deserved this award,” Pappadakis said. A WPHS teacher since 2004, Pappadakis has taught everything from Geography/Civics, Current Events/Global Issues, World History, and U.S. History, to American Government, AP Government/Politics, and AP United States History. He also enjoys taking a group of students to Washington DC every two years for the Close Up trip to study American politics and meet with Federal U.S. representatives. He is already planning the next trip for March 2020.
According to WPHS Principal Kevin Burr, Mr. Pappadakis is an amazing resource for our community. “He’s a terrific teacher and I know that students who have an experience with him are well prepared for their future,” Mr. Burr said. “Kids really enjoy that his classes make them think and work hard, because they know that they’re truly learning in his classroom.”
“I love that great American institutions such as the military and education can show togetherness and mutual respect for each other, especially when they ostensibly and fallaciously represent different points on the political spectrum,” Pappadakis said. “Necessarily, American institutions of all stripes can, and indeed have an obligation to, represent the better angels of our nature.”
Pappadakis was the WPHS Soccer Coach, boys and girls, from 2014 to 2017 and has been an assistant Forensics Coach since 2016.
