Mr. Pawlak began teaching at Riverwood Middle in 2002 and is the current Social Studies Chairperson at Riverwood Middle. Mr. Pawlak is happily married to his wife, Shannon, who also works for Johnston County Schools, and is the proud parent of two Riverwood Middle School students. A lifelong history fanatic, he loves teaching and discussing all aspects of history, especially military history.  When not in the classroom, Mr. Pawlak enjoys visiting the many historical places in North America, especially the battlefield of Gettysburg. A National Board Certfied teacher, Mr. Pawlak has also been nominated twice as Johnston County Teacher of the Year,  making it to the semifinals in 2014 as well as being selected to the Governor's Teacher Network in 2014. Students in Mr. Pawlak's class can expect to experience a more interactive history class, with classroom participation and role playing, a focus.  Students can expect to do two big projects over the course of the year, a fall NC Fair, and a spring Ancestry  project utilizing the school's free access to Ancestryclassroom.com. Mr. Pawlak also runs the school's History Club, which last year visited various Civil War area skirmish sites and battlefields while utilizing  grant obtained metal detectors in the search for historical artifacts.