WASHINGTON — Home of the Eagles: That’s Unity High School in northwest Wisconsin. It’s also the home of biology teacher Brian Michael Collins, honored in Washington this week as Wisconsin’s 2024 teacher of the year.
“I enjoy bringing science ideas together in a way that connects them to the planet and connects them to each other,” Collins said.
Connecting students outside of the classroom as well as inside. In addition to teaching biology, he’s also the power lifting coach and a co-founder of the program to revitalize Ojibwe, a native language.
“I'm still learning the language I've been studying since 2006,” he said. “By reaching out to my community to learn what was important, what was important in my classroom, what was important to reach my students, that's made me a better teacher and glued me to my community.”
Collins calls himself a “career change teacher.” He became an educator when he was 31, and he’s been with the Unity School District for almost 24 years. While in Washington, Collins met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, and chatted with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
“I asked him if we could reinvest in education, not just invest in it, and if [we] could re-envision how education funding happens at the federal level,” Collins said.
He believes there needs to be more support for teachers at every level: local, state, and federal.
“We have high rates of burnout, because we're often being asked to do a lot more with a lot less,” he said.
First Lady Jill Biden, a teacher herself, hosted the first ever state dinner for educators Thursday. Collins and his wife Cindy said they were honored to attend.
“We believe in teaching because we are the architects of the future; we're helping our children and our communities to grow,” Collins said.
Collins and the other award winners will have the opportunity to obtain professional development over the next year. The teachers of the year with a chance to become even better.