Gregory Johnson

Teacher: Gregory Johnson

Subject: Social Studies

School: Roosevelt Community Education Center (Rockford)

Teaching experience: 6 years, all at Roosevelt CEC

What did a nominator or recommender say about this teacher?

• He actually cares about the students’ wellbeing and is outgoing. He kept telling me how proud he is of me and that made me motivated in all my classes. – from a student’s nomination
• “He is passionate about history and does so many things to make it come alive for students, put it in a modern context and make learning meaningful for every student, many of whom have not previously found success in their history courses. Students who have him as their teacher want to come to school because he is their teacher. And because students do not want to miss class, it also improves our attendance rate and student success in other subjects, just be getting them in the building.” – letter of recommendation from a peer/GA Teacher Academy member

What does this teacher say? “I teach every student as if they were my own, with the fierce, unshakable commitment any parent feels to protect and nurture a child. Teaching is not just my profession; it is my front line in building a better world. Teaching is about more than content; it is about fostering resilience, self-confidence and the belief that every student can succeed. I strive to foster curiosity, joy and hands-on learning in every lesson. Hands-on experiences allow students to feel competent, capable and proud of their work while making learning tangible and relevant.”

What else do we know? Teaching is Gregory’s second career after having served as the executive director for programming at a senior center in South Dakota. He was selected to deliver the 2025 Roosevelt graduation speech. Gregory started teaching when the COVID pandemic was in full swing, and, as a new teacher returned to school to get an ESL endorsement to be able to support even more students.