East Windsor Educator Named NJ History Teacher Of The Year

EAST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, NJ — A sixth-grade social studies teacher in the East Windsor Public School District has been named the 2019 New Jersey History Teacher of the Year, the school district announced.

Meghan (King) Stratton, a teacher at Melvin H. Kreps Middle School, received the award, which is presented annually by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to K-12 American history education.

Stratton earned her bachelor degree from Rutgers University and in 2015 completed her master's degree in Social Studies and Urban Education at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education while serving as an Urban Teaching Fellow.

She will now be considered for the National History Teacher of the Year award up against winners from each of the other 49 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools and U.S. Territories. The winner of the national award will be announced in the fall.

Stratton said her belief in the value of excellent history education and the need for education equity inspires her to be the best possible teacher for all of her students. She uses passionate, data-driven instruction to foster critical thinking skills among a diverse group of learners, the school district said.

In addition to teaching, she is one of the advisors of the Melvin H. Kreps Drama program that produces two full productions each year, and the Program Coordinator for the Rutgers University Office of Leadership and Experiential Learning each summer.

In addition to a $1,000 honorarium, Melvin H. Kreps Middle school will receive a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials and recognition at a ceremony in New Jersey.

First awarded in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school.