Tag Archives: History Teachers

Oregon’s Jeremy Hurl: Outstanding Teacher of American History

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Congratulations to Oregon educator Jeremy Hurl. He has just been named his state’s Outstanding Teacher of American History by the DAR.

Congratulations are in order for Oregon educator Jeremy Hurl. He has just been named his state’s Outstanding Teacher of American History by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Jeremy teaches at Duniway Middle School in McMinnville, Oregon.

The honor was awarded to Jeremy in a ceremony on May 20, 2020, in Wilsonville. Jeremy earned a commemorative pin, a certificate, and a check for $500. Jeremy says he plans to use the cash award to fund a summer field study trip. He’ll follow portions of the Oregon Trail, re-create parts of the Lewis and Clark journey, and explore some national parks.

The DAR bestows the annual award to a teacher currently in the classroom who fosters a spirit of patriotism and who successfully relates history to modern life and events. Jeremy earned the award in recognition for his efforts to provide active learning experiences for his students, by creative collaborative problem-solving tasks, and the re-enactments, field trips, and guest speakers he organizes.

Jeremy graduated from McMinnville High School in 1994. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University in 1999. After college, he inaugurated his teaching career by accepting a position at Patton Middle School in McMinnville in 2006. He is currently teaching history, geography, civics and government at Duniway.

To read more about Jeremy, follow this link to an article about him published in the News Register.

Beloved AP US History teacher Dorothy McGirt of Georgia

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AP US History teacher Dorothy McGirt of Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the most beloved educators at Henry W. Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia, was Dorothy McGirt. She taught Advanced Placement US History. She also served her school as the Chair of the Social Studies Department.

In 1984, Dorothy tackled the Advanced Placement teaching assignment. She was a “trailblazer in terms of introducing the program at Grady,” remembers former colleague Lisa Willoughby. Willoughby’s relationship with Dorothy goes way back. “She helped mentor me as I was starting out as a student teacher, then a teacher,” explains Willoughby. “She helped me figure out how to strike a balance between providing rigor and also being supportive to students and helping them be ready to do what they were doing,” she said.

Dorothy is also fondly remembered by former student Michael Fishman, who graduated from Grady in 1987. “She was a really good teacher,” Fishman said. “Very tough, but you learned a lot from her. Out of all the history teachers I had, she was probably the most challenging to have. She didn’t give you book work or anything like that, you had good discussions in her class,” he continued. “I think she left a really good impact on us. She just let us know that the … outside world is much tougher,” he concluded.

Sadly, Dorothy passed away on April 12, 2020, from coronavirus. She was 92 years old. To read more about Dorothy, read her obituary at The Southerner Online.

Indiana teacher Marisa Salasky uses creativity in online lesson about the Civil War

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Middle school social studies teacher Marisa Salasky of Fortville, Indiana, uses creativity to teach her students an online lesson about the Civil War.

During the closure of schools nationwide in response to the coronavirus pandemic, many talented educators are stretching their creative abilities even further than they normally do. Today I’d like to spotlight one such educator: Marisa Salasky, a middle school social studies teacher at Mr. Vernon Community School in Fortville, Vernon Township, Indiana.

Marisa, who is well-known for her innovative lesson plans, has been extending that creativity to the development of online curriculum, like the one pictured above. “What you’re looking at is a history teacher who has been desperate to do something more interactive to teach the Civil War than what she’s been doing,” Marisa shared on her Instagram. “SO enter: Toy Soldier re-enactment of Picketts Charge/Battle of Gettysburg, in my living room, on my couch… key players included: Viking Little People, Batman, and WWII soldiers.”

Marisa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education at Butler University in 2012. Butler is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Chalkboard Champion and Army Veteran Jeremy Heckler

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Educator, Teacher Librarian, US Army veteran, and journalist Jeremy Heckler of Las Vegas, Nevada.

There are many talented teachers who have served our nation in the military before serving their students in the classroom. One of these is Jeremy Heckler, an educator and teacher librarian from Las Vegas, Nevada, who also did stints in Honduras, El Salvador, and Iraq as a member of the US Army.

Jeremy was born in Long Beach, California, and raised in Corona, California. He graduated from Centennial High School in Corona in 1993. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in History from California State University, San Bernardino, in 1997. He completed the requirements for a Master’s degree in Education Administration in 2010, and a Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in 2011, both from Grand Canyon University.

Jeremy Heckler served in the US Army, completing deployments in Honduras, El Salvador, and Iraq.

Once Jeremy completed his student teaching, he was eager to pursue a passion for journalism, so he put a career in education on the back burner and joined the military. Serving as a journalist in the US Army, Jeremy traveled to Honduras and El Salvador. “When I deployed, I finally understood new things about being a teacher,” Jeremy remembers. “I met kids in orphanages who were there because their parents couldn’t afford to take care of them. I talked to missionaries who went into prisons and talked to gang members that made some of the kids I worked with as a student teacher look like boy Scouts,” he described. “I deployed again to Iraq and saw the after effects of kids with no real education. They were the ones sucked into the violence against soldiers and civilians,” he said. “I never wanted that in my own country or my town. I hoped to help as many kids as I could,” he declared.

Once he was discharged from the Army, Jeremy inaugurated his career as an educator when we accepted a position as an Intermediate Resource Room teacher at JT McWilliams Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He made the move to the secondary level when he transferred to Marvin M. Sedway Middle School in North Las Vegas. There he taught 7th grade US History. Later he moved to Las Vegas’s East Career and Technical Academy, where he taught US History, Advanced Placement US History, and Journalism. “It was magic how all my crazy lesson worked,” remembers Jeremy. “My favorite was when my 11th graders practiced their own Civil Rights march and talked about the Movement’s needs and issues,” he recalls.

After many years in Las Vegas, the veteran educator decided to move with his family to Clarksville, Tennessee, where Jeremy taught at Fort Campbell High School on the Fort Campbell military installation. There he taught AP US History, World History, Digital Photography, and Journalism.

After completing his teaching assignment in Tennessee, Jeremy and his family returned to Las Vegas, where he accepted a position as a 7th grade history and 8th grade geography teacher at Garside Junior High School. Eager for yet another new adventure, he launched himself into courses on Library Science.

Currently, Jeremy serves as the Teacher Librarian at Robert Lunt Elementary School in Las Vegas. “I love being in the library,” expresses Jeremy. “I see every single student on campus. I help them develop a love of reading and books,” he continued. “My favorite day is Tuesday, because I get to read to my Pre-K students and help them enjoy reading for reading.” In addition to reading aloud to students, Jeremy organizes numerous Maker-Space activities. His projects include guiding students into researching ancient pyramids and building replicas with Legos, and researching and designing marble roller coasters. “I hope I give them inspiration to see the world,” Jeremy confesses.

Jeremy Heckler: a true Chalkboard Champion.

Philadelphia’s Keziah Ridgeway stays connected with students during pandemic

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High school history teacher Keziah Ridgeway from Philadelpohia, Pennsylvania, stays connected with her students by leading a free online course in African American history during coronavirus pandemic closures.

Teachers all over the country have struggled over the past month to stay connected with their students during coronavirus shut down. One teacher who is doing this very successfully is Keziah Rodgeway, a history teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Keziah teaches at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. When the schools in her district were shut down, she offered her students a free online course on African American history to any student who was interested. The response was so enthusiastic that she now teaches her course four days a week on Google Hangouts Meet. Between 40 to 60 students per week, some of them from out of state, tune in to the online sessions, even though the classes aren’t required and even though they wont be getting any credit for the effort.

There is more at stake than knowledge. Keziah and her students are attempting to maintain some semblance of normalcy in their lives, and to stay connected with others while social distancing at home. “When we are educating, we are doing so much more than that,” Keziah expressed. “And it’s so important for our students to see that we really care about them — that we’re invested in their future. And one way you do that is showing up.”

Before long, Keziah noticed that her virtual classroom has become its own little universe, with kids from around the city forging new bonds. One day she had to cancel class because of other job obligations. When she logged on to remind students of the cancellation, she found a lot of them were still there in the virtual class — hanging out, chatting with each other, and even trying to lead a lesson themselves. “They really log on to be a part of a community,” she said. “They continue to come because they want to continue to interact and have some sort of normalcy.”

Keziah earned her Bachelor’s degree in History from Temple University in 2009. She earned her  Master’s degree in Secondary Education and her teaching credentials from Saint Joseph’s University in 2011. She has taught for  Philadelphia Public Schools since 2014.

To read more about teachers and their efforts to stay in touch with their students during the pandemic, see this article from WHYY at PBS.