SAN MARCOS TEACHER RECEIVES STATEWIDE AWARD
Humanities Texas is pleased to announce that Christopher Hanson of San Marcos High School is one of twelve recipients of the 2015 Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award.
Humanities Texas presents annual statewide awards to encourage excellence in teaching and recognize Texas classroom teachers who have made exemplary contributions in teaching, curriculum development and extracurricular programming. Over four hundred and fifty teachers across the state were nominated for the 2015 awards.
At noon on Monday, Nov. 2, State Representative Jason Isaac and Humanities Texas staff member Sam Moore will present Hanson with his award at San Marcos High School. Hanson will receive a $5,000 cash award, with an additional $500 for San Marcos High School to purchase instructional materials.
Hanson is the orchestra director and teacher of both Pre-AP Music Theory and AP Music Theory at the high school. In 2013, he was a semi-finalist for the Grammy Foundation’s Grammy in Music Education.
“As an outstanding role model, Mr. Hanson brings passion and dedication to his art as an accomplished violinist, composer, researcher and teacher,” said San Marcos CISD Superintendent Mar E. Eads. “San Marcos CISD is fortunate to have him on our team as an educator.”
In his classroom, Hanson strives to impress to his students that the study of music is dually rooted in the performance arts and the humanities. To Hanson, music is not only a vital form of expression, but also a documentation of the human experience through history.
This theory manifests in his teaching. His students listen to the works of notable composers, but then go further to explore the lives of those individuals and delve into the cultural contexts in which they created their music. Hanson’s AP Music Theory students take part in a yearlong project in which they analyze how musical traditions are shaped by social, political and personal pressures through time.
“I push my students to construct meaning to their experiences, and thus further author their own identity and understanding of the world,” said Hanson. “My greatest accomplishments as a teacher have been the sense of enlightenment and intellectual freedom expressed by my students after taking one of my courses.”
“Humanities Texas is pleased to recognize the achievements of Christopher Hanson and San Marcos High School,” said Humanities Texas Executive Director Michael L. Gillette. “Mr. Hanson inspires and motivates his students to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”
Humanities Texas is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its mission is to advance education through programs that improve the quality of classroom teaching, support libraries and museums and create opportunities for lifelong learning for all Texans.
Humanities Texas is currently accepting nominations for the 2016 Outstanding Teaching Awards. Additional information about Humanities Texas and its teacher award program is available atwww.humanitiestexas.org.
