By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington Junior High teacher will be helping students learn about the presidential election, by preparing other teachers.

Greg Kocourek, who teachers seventh-grade geography, said he saw online C-Span was going to fly in three teachers to Washington D.C. this summer to work on new teaching materials and he decided to apply.

PODCAST: Listen to Patti’s interview with Kocourek on WJBC.

“It seemed like a long shot, but I’ll try,” Kocourek said. “I applied and then had a phone interview. I talked to them and I met everyone who works there and they seemed like wonderful people and it just kind of clicked. I was selected, it was amazing and it’s an honor.”

Kocourek will spend one month helping teachers assess students’ progress in their understanding of civics.

“They have lots of lesson plans that have been developed for the presidential campaign in the fall and I’m going to be working on creating things teachers can use as instruments to assess students to give students feedback to let them know how they are progressing,” Kocourek said.

Kocourek told WJBC’s Patti Penn his students are much more passionate about making a difference than adults might realize and can bring a fresh perspective to world affairs.

“The kids come with so many different experiences and backgrounds that it really helps the overall dialogue in the class,” Kocourek said.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].