Vol. 39, No. 32
August 30, 2005
St. Louis Middle School Instructor Honored as
"Preserve America" History Teacher of the Year
Wendy Blanton-Kuhl, a social studies teacher at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School, St. Louis Public Schools, was recently selected as the Preserve America History Teacher of the Year for Missouri.
She was honored August 23 at Carr Lane School by David Bristol, education director for the Missouri Historical Society. She received a plaque and a $1,000 cash award. The school also will receive a collection of historical materials for its library.
Ms. Blanton-Kuhl will now be a candidate for the national American History Teacher of the Year Award, which will be presented this fall in Washington, D.C.
A committee of history educators appointed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education selected Ms. Blanton-Kuhl for the award, based on guidelines set by Preserve America and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Candidates for the award submitted a resume, letters of recommendation, sample lesson plans and a video demonstration of their teaching techniques.
Ms. Blanton-Kuhl has been a teacher for eight years and has taught in the St. Louis Public Schools for the last five years. She is the social studies team leader at Carr Lane School, and she was chosen by the district as the eighth grade American History teacher of the year for 2004-05.
"Preserve America" is a White House initiative conducted in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The award program is administered by the Gilder Lehrman Institute, in cooperation with the National Council for History Education, the Organization of American Historians and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.