On June 18, National History Day® awarded Amy Page at Moriarty High School the 2022 Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year for the Senior Division. Each of the 58 National History Day Affiliates may nominate one high school and one middle school teacher for this award. (Annually about 30,000 teachers participate in National History Day nationwide.)
Both division awards are sponsored by Patricia Behring, a life-long supporter of education, who recognizes teachers that excel at student-centric learning. The award comes with a $10,000 cash prize in addition to the prestige of winning an internationally competitive award that recognizes social studies educators who demonstrate creative teaching methods that engage students in history and help them make exciting discoveries about the past.
Selected by a committee of experienced teachers and historians, Page was recognized for her passion for the NHD program by the New Mexico History Day Affiliate Coordinator Heather McClenahan:
“She displays endless energy year in and year out to help students discover their interests and to translate those into outstanding history projects. She loves perusing the projects at contests and gets as excited about the themes and topics as her students. She celebrates every victory for every student, whether finding an elusive primary source or winning an award at the National Contest.”
“Mrs. Page demonstrates the very best attributes of a history teacher. In addition to her enthusiasm, she is experienced, dedicated, knowledgeable, and innovative,” said NHD Executive Director Cathy Gorn. “I am very proud to award Amy Page the Patricia Behring Award during this tough year for teachers, especially teachers of history.”
NHD is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland, that seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history.
The National History Day Contest was established in 1974 and currently engages more than half a million students every year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest.
Students present their research as a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website. Projects compete first at the local and affiliate levels, where the top entries are invited to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park.
NHD is sponsored in part by, HISTORY®, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, Southwest Airlines, the Crown Family Foundation, The Better Angels Society, the Pritzker Military Museum & Library and the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation. For more information, visit nhd.org.
History Day in New Mexico is open to elementary, middle, and high school students statewide. The program is organized and sponsored by the New Mexico Humanities Council, with support from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. The Humanities Council offers online and in-person professional development for teachers as well as student events. For more information, visit nmhumanities.org/NHD2022.
