Jason Pendleton doesn’t just teach history. He is one of the rare high school instructors who help write it, too.

Pendleton, a history teacher and soccer coach at Free State High School, is co-editing “The Union on Trial: The Political Journals of Judge William Barclay Napton, 1829-1883.” The University of Missouri Press book is due out in May.

“I got a proof copy of the book the other day,” Pendleton said. “It’s pretty exciting to see what it actually will look like. I have a great deal of personal satisfaction knowing that I helped with this.”

Napton was an editor, lawyer and Missouri Supreme Court judge. The book focuses on the 1850s through the 1870s — the buildup to the Civil War and Reconstruction afterward — following Napton’s evolution from a Princeton-educated northerner to a pro-slavery advocate after his marriage into a slaveholding family.

Pendleton mainly is known in the Lawrence community for his teaching and soccer-coaching. He was named 2004 soccer coach of the year in the Sunflower League and teacher of the quarter last fall at Free State.

But he also has worked on history-based articles that have been published in “Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains.”

“I’m a high-energy guy,” he said. “I don’t like to sit still. If I wasn’t involved with co-editing the book, I would have found other things to do.”

Pendleton co-edited the book with Chris Phillips, a former Emporia State University professor who oversaw Pendleton’s postgraduate work there. Phillips is now an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati.

Phillips said he asked Pendleton to co-edit the book because he trusted his work and wanted someone who would be able to drive to Columbia, Mo., or St. Louis to do research.

Free State soccer coach Jason Pendleton works with the school's girl's soccer team Friday during practice. Pendleton juggles coaching, teaching and research for history-based articles for the Kansas History journal, as well as publishing a book this spring with another author.

It’s not unusual for college instructors and graduate students to work on history books, Phillips said, but it is somewhat rare for high school teachers to do so.

“It’s not very common largely because there’s so much to do on the daily basis that it’s very hard to find time to devote yourself to a project that might take five years or more,” Phillips said. “But when they can be involved, that also shows there are a lot of good high school teachers out there.”

Pendleton said most of his work on the book happened after his wife, Jodi, and 3-year-old son, Nathan, went to bed — meaning a lot of late nights. He also would have to take trips for research.

Pendleton said being involved with the process has been a gratifying opportunity and helpful from a teaching perspective.

“History is not exact,” he said. “Much of it is about interpretation. But the key is looking at cause and effect. Hopefully, I translate those skills to my students.”