Nominate an Elementary Teacher to Be Named Montana History Teacher of the Year

Do you know an elementary history teacher who brings history alive for his or her students?  The Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History and the Montana Council for History and Civic Education are seeking nominations for the Montana History Teacher of the Year.  The Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History in New York City and the HISTORY Channel sponsors this award.  The Montana winner will receive a $1,000 check, and they will become finalists in the National History Teacher of the Year award (Montana nominees have placed in the top three.).  In addition, their school library will receive a collection of history books and educational materials! 

Gilder Lehrman is looking for nominations from principals, administrators, or parents.  Below are the qualifications and procedures for this year’s award.   

Qualifications: The nominee must meet the following criteria:

• 3 years’ teaching experience
• Full time elementary teacher, (K-6) during the 2014-2015 school year.  Middle and high school teachers may be nominated in the next cycle (2015-2016)
• Teaches thoughtful and creative United States history. (This may include state and local history, and American history may be taught as an individual subject or through social studies, reading, language arts, and other subjects.)
• Effectively uses primary sources to engage students in American history.

Procedure:

To nominate a teacher, you merely submit the following:

1. Visit www.gilderlehrman.org/nhtoy and nominate a teacher, which will include providing contact information for you your and your nominee as well as a very brief statement about why your nominee should be honored. Deadline for nomination is February 1, 2015.  That’s all you have to do.
2. Once you submit your nominations, your nominee will be asked to submit supporting materials via an online submission form by March 16, 2015.  A committee of  Montana educators will receive their materials and select a winner by May 11, 2015.
3. If you have questions, visit www.gilderlehrman.org/nhtoy or e-mail your state coordinator: James Bruggeman at james.bruggeman@mchce.net. Please do not send nominations to me! Your nominations and your nominee’s submission must be done on line at the Gilder-Lehman website. 

P.S. Just after I post this, I’m heading over to the Capitol to celebrate the  25^th Annual Montana Statehood Centennial Bell Award Winner, Montana City middle school teacher  Moffie Funk. Moffie is being recognized for teaching Montana history—both the creativity and enthusiasm she shows for the subject in her own classroom and the work she did as a teacher-advisor on the Montana Historical Society’s textbook, Montana: Stories of the Land. For that project, Moffie created the worksheets, tests, end-of-chapter material, and answer keys that are used by teachers across the state. It’s great stuff. If you haven’t already, I urge you to check it out for yourself on the Montana: Stories of the Land Companion Website. And congratulations Moffie!