North Hills Instructor Finalist For National Teaching Award

ROSS TOWNSHIP, PA - The accolades keep coming for North Hills Middle School instructor Joe Welch. After being named Pennsylvania History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of America over the summer, he’s now one of 10 finalists for the organization’s National History Teacher of the Year Award.

The winner of the award will be announced this fall.

The 8th grade social studies teacher was chosen by a panel of teachers, administrators for the honor presented by the institute, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to K-12 American history education.

Welch's students were recognized this year for their Building Bridges: Oral History to Connect Communities and Generations project. Welch, along with middle school English teacher Vicki Truchan, oversaw the student publishing of four volumes of community oral history narratives and student analysis that are now available for free on iBooks.

Welch has presented at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference on numerous occasions, as well as the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference and the Association for Middle Level Education national conference. He also has presented at state conferences, including the AIU’s Social Studies Symposium and Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference.

Photo via North Hills School District.

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