‘Taking patriotism to heart’ — Newcastle social studies teacher wins VFW state award

Robert Munger, a Newcastle Middle School social studies teacher, received statewide recognition for his commitment to helping students learn about the United States.

Veterans of Foreign Wars, at local, state and national levels, annually chooses an elementary school teacher, a middle school teacher and a high school teacher as a “Teacher of the Year.” The winners of the 2024-25 Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award are judged based on their modeling and encouragement of citizenship and community involvement, their innovation in the classroom, their ability to find and use new resources for their classroom, and their passion for teaching, according to a brochure.

Newcastle’s VFW Post 2516 Quartermaster Stan Dixon said he wanted to nominate Robert Munger and his wife, Sheila, who both teach social studies at NMS, because of how much they’ve done for students. He was especially impressed by the number of trips they’ve taken students on to the East Coast and the nation’s capital, and with the Veterans Day ceremonies they spearhead at the school each year. Dixon said he is grateful for how the Mungers have taught students what veterans, particularly local people, have done in service of their nation.

Dixon said he learned this year that only one person could be nominated at the district level, but indicated he plans to nominate Sheila for next year’s award.

“They just do a whole bunch for the community,” he said.

Lynn W. Rolf III, programs director for the VFW of the United States, told the News Letter Journal that even though Robert Munger did not win the national award, his application was outstanding among the 53 state-level winners who were considered for it.

“He fits the bill of taking patriotism to heart and spreading that to our youngsters in the classroom,” he said.

Rolf said that he was impressed by the number of projects Munger does with NMS and its students, “instilling that culture into them.”

He acknowledged that it is more difficult for teachers in the Midwest, which he considers Wyoming to be part of, to visit historical sites, such as memorials, and that Munger has few resources, financial and otherwise, at his disposal.

“I really believe, more so now coming out of COVID, that everyone should be thanking our educators, for especially what they endured during COVID and what they pivoted to, but those teachers that compete in our program or that teach citizenship, Americanism, patriotism in their schools,” Rolf said. “We give them an extra salute for them providing that to our youngsters, especially things that a lot of schools across the country don’t teach, like the Pledge of Allegiance and the history of the flag and the meaning of the flag.”

Munger told the NLJ that he enjoys interacting with students and getting to witness the moment when they understand a new concept.

One way Munger likes to teach students is by turning information into an interactive story so they can become more involved and better remember the lesson than they would if they were just learning it straight from a textbook.

“Government is not the most exciting topic in the world, although it’s quite controversial today and has been for the past 10, 15 years,” he said.

Munger has helped students learn, for example, what life might look like in an authoritarian regime by creating a world called “Munger Land.”

“Some of the kids in my classroom will become generals and help me run the country and then we’ll, of course, take control and power of everyone else in the classroom, give them restrictions, behead a child or two — figuratively — show them what life in a dictatorship would be, versus just saying, ‘Well, dictators have all the power and they control everybody’s lives,’” he said.

Another activity is a mock Congress, where students create their own bills and must try to overcome the legislative hurdles involved in making a bill become a law, he said.

Munger said he was unaware of the award before Stan and Stan’s wife, Tina, contacted him and Sheila. He said he believes the Veterans Day program, which he and Sheila have organized each year at NMS since 2000 to recognize veterans, and the Close Up Foundation trips to Washington, D.C., which the Mungers arrange for students and other community members, prompted the nominations.

Since the Mungers began the trips in 2001, they have taken 668 people on trips to the nation’s capital: 562 middle school students, 34 parents, 18 other adults (such as grandparents), 17 high school students on school-related trips, as well as 37 adults on adult-only trips. Over the years the couple has seen a multitude of changes in Washington, D.C., including the building of the World War II Memorial, the expansion of the Korean War Veterans Memorial and increases in security at the sites.

“After the first run, we kind of got hooked,” he said.

On this year’s trip, some NMS students who were touring the U.S. Capitol happened to meet Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso and got their pictures taken with him.

Munger said that he hopes students will remember to remain aware of what’s going on in the world, including government, and become actively involved in government, but he believes it’s more likely that they will remember how he treated them.

“That’s what I remember about my teachers,” he said.

In the short term, however, Munger’s students are expected to remember many facts about government. Every day, seventh and eighth grade students recite the Preamble to the Constitution, the seven articles of the Constitution, the 27 amendments to the Constitution and the 47 presidents. He said college students taking political science classes have thanked both Mungers because those memorization exercises have helped them ace their Constitution test.

In the early 2000s, Barrasso visited NMS, and the Mungers had the seventh and eighth grade students recite the Constitution for him. In the impromptu meeting with the students at the Capitol this year, Barrasso asked whether the Mungers still ask students to recite the Constitution, and he tested their knowledge, according to Munger.

The students proved the lessons were still part of the curriculum.

Munger has also been a volunteer firefighter for the Newcastle Fire Department since 1992 and ran with the ambulance service for 25 years.