Newfound educator named state top geography teacher for 2023

BRISTOL — Jay Peringer, a sixth grade social studies teacher at Newfound Memorial Middle School who received the Alvarez Geospatial Educator Memorial Award for 2023, believes it is important to avoid teaching “in a silo” to engage students.

“I think the traditional way in New Hampshire to teach social studies was like, sixth grade was only geography, and seventh grade is only ancient history, and eighth grade is only U.S. history. I think we do ourselves a disservice doing that,” he said.

“My approach is, during sixth grade, you’re going to get civics, you’re going to get economics, you’re going to get history, you’re going to get geography, and as much as I can, I am going to cross them over.”

Peringer says the term “geospatial” simply means “geography” but, when people hear that term, they think of physical locations. “Geography is not just land,” he said. “There’s also cultural geography, political geography, not just physical geography; there’s religious geography. Geography is a lot of different ways you can separate the Earth.”

The Alvarez Award, named for Kristi Alvarez, who died of cancer in 2012, is an honor “granted annually to a geospatial educator of any grade making a difference in geospatial education.” Alvarez, who started teaching at Keene State College in 1999, earned a reputation as an excellent geography teacher and a leader in social science education. She was a past president of the National Council for Geographic Education and the New Hampshire Council of Social Studies.

Principal Chris Ulrich said, “One of the things I think Jay does well, and why I think it makes sense to give him this award ... is that Jay really listens to kids, and I think kids a lot of times aren’t really used to being listened to.”

In nominating Peringer for the award, issued by New Hampshire Council of Social Studies, Kelsie Eckert, assistant professor of practice and program coordinator for social etudies education at Plymouth State University, wrote, “Jay is an outstanding middle school teacher. He was one of the first to bring inquiry-based learning through the C3 [college, civics, and career] to New Hampshire schools and continues to champion this in his classroom.”

She continued, “When I observed his teaching, he actively used original maps in a mystery-solving lesson plan to uncover the lost history of the Roanoke colony. It was amazing and his students were abuzz with enthusiasm. Jay is also a regular mentor for new teachers, and PSU students are thrilled to have the chance for him to be their mentor.”

When he introduced Peringer as Geospatial Teacher of the Year at the Oct. 23 meeting of the Newfound Area School Board, Ulrich said, “I’ve never seen the man work, because if work is exchanging your labor for money, Jay doesn’t do that. If you talk to the [paraprofessionals] in his room, the kids he’s had, the parents of kids who he’s had — because now we’re talking about multiple generations that have had Mr. Peringer — they all say the same thing, which is that what makes Mr. Peringer great is from the moment you enter his classroom, it’s very clear that he loves what he does, and his energy is infectious.”

Ulrich said, “He gets kids to love whatever he’s doing, be it from studying [Thomas] Hobbes and [John] Locke and the nature of man, to literally studying the skull of Australopithecus.” Students who suffer from “such crippling anxiety that they can’t talk in class ... are raising their hands and contributing to his class because he makes it a safe learning environment for every single kid.”

Peringer describes his role as that of an “edutainer” — “You’ve got to take the educator and the entertainer and put them together.” By demonstrating that social studies is fun and interesting, students are able to break out of their shells and participate with the rest of the class.

“A lot of kids don’t know how to frame [their comments], so sometimes another teacher might say, ‘You’re being flippant.’ They’re not; they just don’t know how to form the comment,” he said, “so you try to work through it with them.”

Ulrich said, “He loves talking to parents about ‘I’m going to teach your kids how to argue ... how to respectfully disagree with someone and find some common ground.'”

Peringer told of students coming to him after class for advice on having an argument with their parents.

“We use the word ‘argument’ [which] is a strong word; they just need to have a conversation with their parents, and they need to stop starting the conversation with ‘I want’ because your parents are gonna go ‘No.’ ... An argument is, ‘I need you to agree with what I’m saying,’” he said.

Those lessons in presenting an argument have helped the student council succeed in getting the administration to agree to changes in the student handbook, class schedules, and standardized testing. “I think it was one of the factors in why we saw a significant improvement in test scores last year,” Ulrich said.

The principal said one of the most powerful things he saw was Peringer leading student council members in laying wreaths at the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery. “He’s handing out pennies and talking about what the significance of the different denominations of money have on laying it on a veteran’s tombstone, and making sure the kids have pennies to signify that ‘I don’t know you but I visited your grave.’ It was this incredibly powerful moment where he is making civics very real for kids, and for the rest of my life, I’ll remember that moment,” Ulrich said.

For Constitution Day, Peringer, who leads the sixth grade team, suggested focusing on a different branch of government each year. Last year, the sixth, seventh and eighth graders focused on the judicial branch, reviewing the student handbook in the context of constitutional freedoms. Meeting in the gymnasium, students had a chance to ask questions of the middle and high school principals, the former superintendent, members of law enforcement from several towns, and attorneys from the New Hampshire Bar Association.

“The kids just peppered them with questions,” Peringer recalled. “The best parts were when maybe an administrator would say something and the lawyer would say something different. And, you know, the kids loved it.”

That experience led to the formation of an after-school program called the Student-Staff Senate.

Peringer received his bachelor’s degree in social science education from then-Plymouth State College, and a master’s degree in education leadership from Southern New Hampshire University. He holds certifications in K-8 elementary, 5-12 social studies, curriculum administration and principal. He taught in Nashua and Manchester before moving to Alexandria and joining the Newfound Area School District as an out-of-school coordinator, transporting students who had been suspended to the community center, tutoring them, and leading them in community service projects “instead of going home and just playing video games.”

In addition to now being the sixth grade team leader, social studies teacher, and student council adviser, he is adviser on the yearbook.

Ulrich commented, “I think what makes Jay a great teacher is the thing that makes anyone a great teacher: He is passionate about what he teaches, but even more importantly, he’s passionate about who he teaches.”

“I’ve been a very, very short time in the district,” said Interim Superintendent Steve Nilhas, “but Jay very early on was someone that I became aware of — his prowess as an educator and as a person — and him getting the award certainly is great, but, you know, I don’t think any of us were surprised whatsoever. He makes us all proud. ... He’s fortunate to be part of the middle school community here and the greater community of Newfound. So I’m just really, really super proud of him and excited to have him as a colleague.”