Two local teachers were recently honored for excellence and innovation in the classroom, one in Champaign and one in Urbana. They teach different disciplines — social studies and math.

But both are middle school teachers who are skilled at incorporating technology in the classroom. And both are determined to make their lessons relevant to students' lives, whether it's understanding math in a fun and hands-on way or learning what it means to be an involved citizen in today's world.

CHAMPAIGN — Lindsay Lohan and rapper 50 Cent may not top your good-citizen list, but Christine Adrian at least wants her eighth-graders to think about why.

Both celebrities made headlines when they got in trouble with the law, but both also actively support several charities or foundations.

Does that good offset the bad?

Most of Adrian's students answered "no" after researching that question, but they were more forgiving of swimmer Michael Phelps and singer Mary J. Blige, whose trangressions were judged less serious than the good work they do.

It's all part of Adrian's lessons on citizenship, which she thinks students don't know nearly enough about today.

Adrian, a 10-year teacher at Jefferson Middle School and head of the social studies department, is again being honored for her innovative teaching, this time as the national Outstanding Middle Level Social Studies Teacher of the Year. The award from the National Council for the Social Studies carries a $2,500 prize.

Last year she was named Illinois History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. She's also won awards from the History Channel for a lesson plan she developed on Abraham Lincoln and memory, and from the League of Women Voters for Jefferson's participation in a national mock election in 2008.

"Kids need to see that history matters, because it keeps our society running," she said.

In her history and social studies classes, Adrian incorporates the study of ordinary people students can relate to so "they can see themselves in history. It's the everyday people who make society work."

Amos Lee, who teaches with Adrian, said she is able to get students to "care about things that they might not even know that they care about."

Adrian uses social media and other technology to get through to students, though she makes sure they read plenty as well.

One tool is "edmodo," a secure social-learning network where students and teachers can discuss lessons or ideas. That's where her students debated the celebrity good-citizenship question after doing Web research on Lohan (arrested for multiple drug violations), Phelps (a DUI and marijuana arrest), 50 Cent (gun charges) and Blige (accused of hitting her husband).

Technology is crucial for this age group, as most students are accustomed to text-ing, surfing the Web or using Facebook outside of class, Adrian said.

She also wants to close the digital divide. Some of her students have barely touched a computer, and they need to know how to navigate the Web, judge the content they find and "think for themselves."

Adrian grew up in Peoria, the daughter of a Bradley University civil engineering professor and a history buff, in a home where being smart was seen as "a cool thing." She earned three education degrees at the UI, including a master's in global studies in education.

She sees herself as a historian as well as a teacher, a role enhanced by her participation in the American History Teachers' Collaborative overseen by the Urbana school district. It provides summer research fellowships for teachers to find primary-source documents to use in lessons, such as archived photos or newspaper clippings.

She was also the first noncollege teacher to develop a lesson from materials at the National Archives through a curriculum project there. It compares photographs from the Dust Bowl and the Holocaust, both units in her modern U.S. history class, to understand human compassion.

Her goal is to teach students how to be historians, too. She has them read books and texts from different perspectives, to learn how to separate fact from opinion.

"I want them to formulate the questions" rather than dictate what they think, she said.

Her latest effort is a sister-school project in Africa through the Opportunity Education Foundation, which pairs schools from First World countries like the United States with schools in Third World countries.

Jefferson is paired with Valingozi Junior Secondary School in South Africa. The foundation provides Valingozi with lesson plans and equipment, and Jefferson students are asked to write to the South African students so they can learn to write in English.

Adrian said American schools are in dire need of more study about Africa, whose history is deeply intertwined with the United States.

It's also eye-opening for students here — who sometimes complain about school — to hear how students there walk 2 or 3 miles in the dark through the African bush just to get to school.

"They see the reason for education. They're actually risking their lives to get to school," Adrian said.

She requires her students to put in four hours of volunteer work each semester, starting this fall with a day of activism on the 9/11 anniversary.

Adrian is the type of teacher students come back to visit years later, Principal Susan Zola said.

"She engages students at a very high level and encourages them to think critically, write critically and make real-world connections," Zola said.