Always a Teacher – and Student: Tim Constant, MSF
When the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus (HMC) was looking for someone to expand its teaching mission, Tim Constant was their choice.
Constant graduated from Walsh in 1995 with a Master of Science in Finance — a degree he put to use in the business world and as an educator. He brought a mix of business savvy, marketing smarts and deep experience in education to the job of associate director of teacher education and outreach at the HMC. The Farmington Hills museum and education center seeks to “engage, educate and empower” people by remembering the Holocaust and its victims.
“Every position that I have had since graduating from Walsh has been heavily involved in accounting and finance,” says Constant, who also holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in secondary education and teaching in addition to his Walsh degree. “That degree helped me to understand how to cost out components of a project or a program.”
Constant worked for a variety of companies and a human services agency early in his career. He started in education — as a teacher, administrator and principal — in 2005. As an administrator, Constant found himself dealing with budget and finance reports — and his Walsh degree came in handy.
A self-described “lifelong student,” Constant is currently working on his doctorate.
At the HMC, Constant collaborates with schools, school districts and educational organizations around the state to develop and provide training and instructional materials that prepare teachers to teach about the Holocaust. The program began in support of a state law requiring public schools to give students between the eighth and 12th grades lessons on the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide.
His role has expanded since he joined the HMC — Constant was promoted into his current position in summer 2020 — and he wants to build long-term relationships with educational institutions across the state. He has also been focused on providing online teaching resources during the coronavirus pandemic, and on better connecting the classroom with the HMC museum experience.
Among many other affiliations, Constant is on the board of the Michigan Council for the Social Studies, the Association for Constructivist Teaching and a member of Human Rights Educators USA’s community leadership team.
He can tie many of his current activities to the foundation Walsh provided, which he describes as a “project management-style mindset” that has helped him to stay focused while developing a vision for next steps.
“We’re always looking for continuous improvement, so I do a lot with data and looking at ways to improve these educational programs,” he says. “Those skills were extremely valuable.”
