Tuscaloosa Academy's Foster Named Alabama's Top History Teacher

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa Academy teacher Jaclyn Foster was named this week as the 2021 Alabama History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Foster has worked in education for 18 years and currently teaches middle school civics, U.S. history and human geography at the school.

A record 8,510 teachers were nominated in 2021 for the History Teacher of the Year Award, with the award seeking to highlight the importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school.

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In addition to a $1,000 honorarium because of Foster's recognition, the school will also receive a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials, along with recognition at a ceremony in Alabama.

Foster will now move on to compete for National History Teacher of the Year this fall. The organization said 10 finalists for the National History Teacher of the Year Award will be announced on Thursday, Sept. 9, with the national winner announced later that month.

The organization presenting the distinction said Foster's passion for history and technology have been combined in her classroom, and her students have reaped the benefits.

"She brings history alive in her classroom by creating engaging and innovative projects for her students including inserting them into historical pictures they are studying using green screen technology, creating music videos about the Bill of Rights, analyzing and solving real-world issues in their community through service-learning projects, being involved in a real-life immigration process, connecting her students to numerous experts in the field, and chaperoning her students on an annual field trip to Washington, D.C.," the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History said. "When students leave her classroom they have not only learned valuable information, they have become engaged and informed citizens."

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