In addition to classroom instruction, Pactor leads Student Council and the Intervention Team, focusing on students with multiple failures. Prior to teaching at Speedway, Pactor lead civic engagement efforts for City Year Chicago, helped create the Cities of Service project for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, edited his college newspaper to win 42 statewide awards, and taught at Northview High School in Brazil, Indiana and Lawrence North, Warren Central, and North Central High Schools (his alma mater) in Indianapolis. He is a member of both Democrats for Education Reform and Stand for Children. He holds an AB in Political Science from Wabash College and an MA in English from Butler University.