Andrew Monsen designed his AP U.S. politics and government class at Auburn Riverside High School to direct his students’ attention to living documents.

Students argue politics, take presidential polls, throw themselves into local and state politics, even meet with state representatives.

The idea is to keep young ideals alive, Monsen says, gets kids involved, and, hopefully, keep them that way.

Indeed, Monsen’s approach has been known to light such a fire for learning in his kids that many turn right around and sign up for next year’s class.

The VFW recently noticed just how good Monsen is at what he does and awarded him second place in the Washington State VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award contest. The award recognizes outstanding teachers who promote civic responsibility, flag etiquette and patriotism in the classroom.

Records show that Monsen’s students excel on the national AP U.S. Politics and Government exams. Indeed, the high-performance levels make him a national scorer for the test.

Monsen competed at the state level after winning the local competition, which the Auburn VFW Post 1741 sponsored. Post 1741 plans to honor him for his achievement at a future meeting of the Auburn School Board

Monsen, chairman of ARHS’ Social Studies department, also teaches history. His students have gone on to serve in the military and work on political campaigns. Some are now employed in state offices.

As events unfold throughout the world, students past and present find time to stop by or email Monsen to talk about why those things matter, which shows just how important he was and remains to the development of their thinking.