Vernon, a 28-year veteran educator with Alamance-Burlington Schools, was named the 2022 North Carolina Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies at their annual meeting on Thursday, March 3.
Patrick Vernon ’94 G’08, a 28-year veteran educator with Alamance Burlington School System, was named the 2022 North Carolina Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year by the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies at their annual meeting on Thursday, March 3, 2022.
This prestigious award announcement is not new for Vernon, as he received this same honor in 2005.
Vernon currently teaches middle school social studies at the Alamance Virtual School in its inaugural year, with 27 previous years serving students at Western Alamance Middle School.
Vernon is a proud graduate of Elon from 1994 as well as 2008 when he earned his Master of Education in Elementary Education degree. Vernon also holds National Board Certification in Early Adolescence Social Studies/History and teaching certifications for Elementary Education, Middle Grades Science, K-12 Academically/Intellectually Gifted and Middle Grades Social Studies and English/Language Arts.
Over his career, Vernon has been honored numerous times and in a variety of ways for his excellence in teaching, including twice winning the Western Alamance Middle School Teacher of the Year award and the Teacher of the Year award for the Alamance Virtual School in its first year. Vernon has been a finalist or semifinalist for district Teacher of the Year each time he has been named his school’s teacher of the year.
Vernon doesn’t just teach children. He also spends a lot of time and energy sharing his experience and knowledge with fellow educators, mentoring National Board Certification candidates, supporting future educators with the Elon University School of Education, and presenting at conferences and training sessions within his school, within ABSS and with the broader community of educators across the region, state and nation.