Clayton — Seventh-graders have a lot of newfound social energy and little tolerance for boring lectures.

Dave Hinrichs, Johnston County’s newly crowned teacher of the year, says his seventh-grade math students at Riverwood Middle School succeed because he molds his math class to their style of learning. In class, students work through math problems in conversation with one another, and in conversation with their teacher.

Certainly. Hinrichs insists that students work hard, act respectfully and complete their assignments, but the one posted rule is this: “No Boredom Any Time.”

“They’re social,” Hinrichs says. “The most important thing in their life is their friends. They’re learning working together.”

At the start of a recent class, students review the previous night’s homework on mean, median, range and mode. Students volunteer their results, and don’t seem to mind saying so if they got an answer different from the one their classmates got. Hinrichs easily admits what processes trip him up sometimes too, and he leads students through finding the correct answers.

“It’s better if you find it than me telling you, then you don’t have to make [that mistake] again,” he says.

The teacher of the year receives the Flame for Learning Award based on a best practice in the classroom. Hinrichs’ Math Journey project in the second and third quarters this year emphasized kids working together to learn in four-person teams.

Every class started with a quiz, or it did until students asked if they could go over homework first and then take the quiz. The first question can be from anything they’ve learned all year, two and three come from the current lesson, and the fourth comes straight from end-of-grade test-prep materials.

Then the students get in their four-person teams and grade and discuss their work. The fun starts when they get to go to a wall decorated in purple mountains (That’s the color of construction paper that was available.) The mountains represent China, India, Japan and Australia, the countries they study in social studies.

And how far students fly en route from one country to the next depends on how well they performed. They can earn points for things like homework passes or help on tests.

Hinrichs says his students thrive on the flexibility and trust such an activity places on them.

“If they ever grade themselves, they’re harder on themselves,” Hinrichs says.

After Math Journeys started, class quiz and test averages rose from the 70s to the 90s.

Jonathan Wagoner and Hayden Jones say they decided to quit goofing off and bring their grades up because of Hinrichs.

“He’s like our friend, but I’m still learning,” Wagoner says. “I went from F’s to B’s and A’s.”

Hinrichs’ students say he’s the kind of teacher who can keep a light classroom atmosphere without losing their attention when it’s time to get to work.

“He’s one of those teachers who, if you forget to do your homework, you feel terrible,” says Paige Allen.

His principal, Phil Lee, has more than 30 years in education and says Hinrichs impressed him from their first meeting two years ago.

“When I interviewed him, I thought he was the best and strongest candidate I had ever interviewed,” Lee says. Hinrichs is in his second-year teaching at Riverwood Middle and is the math department chairman. He will now compete for the North Central Region Teacher of the Year title.