Burbank High history teacher named ‘Outstanding Educator’
History teacher Dave Thomson has taught at Burbank High School for 32 years, and this year has been named Outstanding Educator by the University of Chicago.
Dave Thomson was in high school when he first thought about becoming a teacher.
At the time, he wasn’t very interested in math or science, but one of his teachers inspired him to enroll in more science courses than he needed to graduate.
“That’s what powerful teaching is,” he said. “I saw the difference a teacher could make.”
Now, in his 32nd year of teaching U.S. history at Burbank High School, Thomson has been recognized for the difference he’s made — the University of Chicago recently named him an “Outstanding Educator.”
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Each year, the University of Chicago invites incoming freshmen to nominate a teacher for the award, and former Burbank High student Henry Saroyan nominated Thomson, who is modest about the honor.
“I don’t know how word got out,” he said Thursday afternoon. “I didn’t tell anyone.” However, he suspects the university contacted Burbank Unified officials, who, in turn, shared the news with the public.
Over the course of his career, Thomson has coached soccer and advised clubs as well as taught U.S. history and Advanced Placement U.S. history courses, and his passion for teaching high school students is as strong as ever.
“I get to get up in front of people who are young and excited and eager to learn. Sometimes, they don’t know they are. It’s kind of like lighting that spark. When you see the light come on for them and they begin to get interested and excited … it becomes very special. That’s never changed.”
At the end of every school year, Thomson said he hopes his students leave his classroom better thinkers, writers and problem-solvers.
“I want them to leave feeling good about the year we spent together, and hopefully they’ve grown and been challenged. I tell them, ‘If I’m doing my job, then you’re much better students when you leave me in May than when you came to me in August,’” he said.
Thomson also tries to help students understand the relevancy of past events.
“One of the first things we try to understand is that, while history’s in the past, the past is always with us, and it’s part of who we are and where we’re going. It enriches the experience of life, but it also helps [students] make better decisions. It helps them to understand that they’re not the first ones to go through struggle or triumphs or failures,” he said.
With the concern, fear and excitement that surrounded the 2016 presidential election, Thomson said, his students arrived to his class invested, which “made the history much easier to teach.”
He said he will also guide his students through examining President-elect Trump’s first 100 days in office, and study other presidents’ first 100 days to learn how they set the tone on an entire presidency.
“It’s always trying to find those connections and make them,” Thomson said. “By second semester, hopefully, they’re making those connections themselves. We don’t know the outcome really, but in part, they’ll help write it.”
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
