Love Of History Earns Massapequa Teacher A Fellowship

Massapequa High School teacher Richard McNeil was awarded a 2018 James Madison Memorial Fellowship. He was one of 52 teachers from across the country to receive the financial award from the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation.

McNeil has been a special education social studies teacher in Massapequa for 11 years, including four years with the Wing program, which offers small-class settings and additional guidance for students. He teaches 10th-grade global history, 11th-grade U.S. history and 12th-grade economics and government. Additionally, he has served as adviser for the last eight years to the Model U.N. and the Military History Club, in which students have raised money for the needy, created care packages and collected books for the troops.

The James Madison Memorial Fellowship will fund up to $24,000 of McNeil’s course of study toward a master’s degree. The program must include a concentration of courses on the history and principles of the United States Constitution. He will pursue a degree in government and politics at St. John’s University with a major in American government and minor in comparative politics, and will also be required to complete the summer 2019 semester at Georgetown University.

The fellowship is funded by income from a trust fund in the Treasury of the United States and from additional private gifts, corporate contributions and foundation grants. The award is intended to recognize promising and distinguished teachers, to strengthen their knowledge of the origins and development of American constitutional government.

“The Madison Fellowship Foundation requires that I complete five years as a U.S. history teacher, and I am more than happy to meet that requirement,” McNeil said. “My goal in acquiring the fellowship has always been so that I may pass on a better understanding of the U.S. Constitution to my students. This award has my name on it, but I could not have reached this goal without the support of my wife, my children and my colleagues in the special education department.”

Photo courtesy Massapequa School District