Award winning education grad brings learning to life
Submitted photo: Logan Jacksteit, MHC education alumnus, receives the Lieutenant Governor General’s Social Studies Award from Her Honour Lois Mitchell.
Logyn Jacksteit’s passion for history and storytelling has won him a prestigious provincial award – and the imagination of his young students.
As a graduate of Medicine Hat College’s (MHC) collaborative education degree program, Jacksteit was recently awarded the 2019 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Education Student Social Studies Award. He entered the contest last winter during his final semester at MHC. Following an essay submission, Jacksteit was selected to prepare a presentation for a panel of expert judges. Choosing from a list of 200 people that have historical relevance to Alberta, he was tasked with teaching a lesson using the province’s social studies curriculum.
Armed with knowledge and stories about his chosen historical figure, the Sundance Kid, Jacksteit delivered his lesson to the judges with nothing to lose and only experience to gain. Although confident with his presentation, he was still shocked to learn he had won the award.
“I was humbled. It was an overwhelming experience,” says Jacksteit, who now teaches upper elementary and junior high language arts at Irvine School.
His own teachers couldn’t be more proud of his accomplishment.
“Logyn’s initiative to pursue this prestigious award during his final full-time practicum is commendable,” says Lorelei Boschman, education instructor at MHC. “It not only demonstrates his interest in social studies, particularly the teaching of Alberta history and making it come alive for students, it also demonstrates a high level of perseverance, creativity, presentation and teaching ability as well as personal growth. These are all qualities we work at helping our students develop through their Bachelor of Education career path; Logyn has modelled these well!”
Education is actually Jacksteit’s second career. He initially trained to be an automotive service technician, but found more satisfaction in teaching the apprentices than fixing vehicles.
“I started to wake up every day not wanting to go to work. As I got older, I thought about teaching more often,” recalls Jacksteit. “And then one day you just pull the trigger. You get your finances in line, you quit your job and you go for it.”
He believes the overall experience at MHC, and the commitment of its faculty, is second to none.
“The faculty in the education and the humanities departments work very hard. They get to know their students and give them a rich and fulfilling education. I loved my experience there.”Now it’s his turn to deliver rich educational experiences to his own students.
While Jacksteit had plenty of opportunities to work with students during his practicum placements, he says being a full time teacher exceeds his expectations. As an education student, the focus was on completing projects, submitting unit plans and meeting practicum requirements, all on a tight schedule. As a teacher, there are still schedules and expectations, but there is also some flexibility and more time to build deeper relationships with his students.
“If we get into a great conversation, I can talk to my kids for the whole period and take that time which wasn’t possible before,” he explains.
Even though Jacksteit is teaching language arts, he still finds opportunities to share his passion for social studies.
“I get so taken in by the stories and timelines of history. Understanding the decisions that were made and learning about the unique people behind the events is so interesting. If I can share a story here and a story there, my students can learn something on a more personal level, which I think really helps when you’re trying to understand the past.”
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