Nominations for the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education’s (MCHE) 2024 Holocaust Educator of the Year are now open.
Anyone who has knowledge of a teacher’s commitment to Holocaust education is encouraged by MCHE to submit a nomination by March 1.
“This is an opportunity to demonstrate what is right in education,” MCHE Executive Director Jessica Rockhold said, “and to let those nominated educators know that we value their commitment to teaching our children and their dedication to furthering their own knowledge to be the best educators they can be.”
Nominees must be educators who are teaching students in seventh through 12th grade about the Holocaust. MCHE is looking for teachers that excel in the following categories:
- Pedagogy — using well-researched and best-practice methods for teaching about the Holocaust.
- Continuous learning — continuing professional development in Holocaust education through further education.
- Historical knowledge of the Holocaust — providing historically accurate information and “model[ing] the practices of good historians in class activities.”
- “Walking the talk” — committing to applying the lessons of the Holocaust “in creating a more just and peaceful world today.”
MCHE encourages the nomination of teachers who engage with the organization’s programs. Teachers may nominate themselves.
“One of MCHE’s founding principles was prioritizing teacher education,” Rockhold said. “Over the years, we have worked with dedicated educators who made deeply personal commitments to learning everything they could about the Holocaust… they understand the historical weight, and they understand the impact that those lessons can have on children. They want to make sure they are teaching this history accurately and with empathy.”
The winner of the 2024 Holocaust Educator of the Year will receive a $500 award and be recognized at MCHE’s annual Academic Awards Ceremony in May. Angela Gottensburen, an English and history teacher at Lone Jack High School in Lone Jack, Missouri, was the 2023 winner.
Nominations can be made at mchekc.org/educator-of-the-year.