Mt. Washington Educator Named 2017 Kentucky History Teacher of the Year
Mt. Washington middle school teacher Jennifer Faith is the 2017 Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Teacher of the Year for Kentucky. The Bullitt County Board of Education will recognize her at its Aug. 28 meeting at 6 p.m. at the Frank R. Hatfield Administrative Center, 1040 Highway 44 E., in Shepherdsville.
Faith teaches at Eastside Middle School. With more than 10 years of experience, she believes in individualized learning and not only draws upon history books and documents to educate her students, but also upon their personal experiences and viewpoints.
Faith pushes her students to both understand the past and to form their own opinions about it. She has created imaginative lessons centering on challenging topics such as slavery and the idea of “What would George Washington think about that?”
A strong advocate for professional development, Faith has participated in numerous grants and workshops organized by Teaching American History, the McConnell Center for Civics Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s in teaching degree from the University of Louisville.
As Kentucky History Teacher of the Year, Faith will receive a $1,000 honorarium and an invitation to a 2018 Gilder Lehrman Teacher Seminar, a weeklong program that offers teachers daily discussions with eminent historians, visits to historic sites and hands-on work. She also is in the running for the National History Teacher of the Year award.
The Eastside Middle School library also will benefit from Faith’s reward, receiving a supply of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History presents the award annually to highlight the importance of history education. The Kentucky Historical Society coordinates the process for Kentucky. KHS will honor Faith at its annual meeting in early November.
Nominations for the 2018 History Teacher of the Year awards are open. Students, parents, colleagues and supervisors may nominate K-12 teachers for the award at gilderlehrman.org/nhtoy. The deadline is March 30, 2018.