The James Madison Graduate Fellowship is widely known as America’s most prestigious award in constitutional history and government for secondary teachers for good reason, being given to only one individual per state each year by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation.
This year, the 2022 James Madison Graduate Fellowship for Mississippi has gone to Greg Howard, history teacher at Petal High School, who plans to use the $24,000 scholarship for a second master’s degree in history.
“It feels like a culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of things that were not necessarily me – there’s a lot of teamwork that goes into teaching effectively and planning out the things we do on a daily basis for kids,” Howard said. “It’s definitely something that I’m proud of, but it’s also definitely something where it’s one of those situations where it takes a village to raise the kids.
“So it’s appreciated, but sometimes I feel almost like I’m undeserving.”
Now in its 30th year of awarding fellowships, the goal of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation is to help secondary level history, government, and civics teachers become outstanding educators of the U.S. Constitution. To win the scholarship, Howard went through the application process, writing samples of his educational philosophy and the way he feels about presenting the United States Constitution and debate in his classroom.
“I knew that I stood a decent chance, because last year I got the alternate award – so basically if the person who won it last year stepped down, then I would receive it,” Howard said. “So I knew that I was second place last year, but getting it this year, while it wasn’t a complete surprise, was definitely an honor.”
Howard graduated from Petal High School in 2005 before earning his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2010. From there, he worked random jobs until 2014, when he earned his master’s degree in education from the University of Mississippi.
Howard then began teaching seventh-grade English in Hinds County before coming to the Petal School District in 2017.
His passion for history, government and civics began in high school under teacher Si Thompson.
“Coach Thompson was sort of a pinnacle of AP Euro and AP U.S. History here at the high school,” Howard said. “He was a major influence in just creating a passion for it.
“From there, at USM, I had some fantastic professors as well in political science. Dr. Marek Steedman was a fantastic political theory professor that they had. He just kept kind of feeding that passion for not just U.S. politics, but kind of theory in general in politics. The teachers I’ve had have been a major influence.”
As a winner of the James Madison Graduate Fellowship, Howard will begin the fellowship this summer via a program offered through Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
“I’ll get to study the Constitution in the center of power, the seat of power for our country,” Howard said. “I teach history and AP government, but I’ve never been to the capital, and so that’s very exciting, with all the things going on in the country.
“Getting to go see where the legislative process happens, where the governmental processes happen, that’s something you don’t get to do very often if you’re not from there. So that’s very exciting.”
