Alishia Gaston Stack
Educator
Teacher of the Year Finalist • Lowndes High School • Valdosta, Georgia
An extra class changed Alishia Gaston Stack’s career. While teaching English, she took on a government course during her planning period and liked it so much that she earned certification in the subject. She now teaches government and civics at Lowndes High School.
Her “daily docket” gives students a question or activity to get them thinking. For a Constitution Day project, they research and propose a 28th Amendment, weigh its advantages and drawbacks, and make their case to classmates acting as Congress. Stack presses them to consider whether their proposal belongs in the Constitution or addresses something a state should handle.
She chooses groups so students work beyond their usual circles, then gives them room to lead. When one student asked to model her 28th Amendment proposal, Stack gave her the opportunity to teach her classmates. Students who ask Stack to supply an answer may hear, “I need you to make an executive decision.” She wants them to practice thinking it through themselves.
Stack takes as much pride in students volunteering at the local hospital or writing encouraging cards to school staff as she does in their exam scores. “It’s like they find their voice in this class,” she says of students who arrive shy or quiet. Their growing confidence matters to her, along with the responsibility they take for their work and for others.
