2001 Joseph Webber Teaching Award Winner

This is the 7th year for the Joseph Webber Teaching Award to be presented in Missouri, and again the Webber Award winner will be Missouri's nominee for the national prize in June.

Carol Bohl, Harrisonville Christian School, Harrisonville, has been chosen 2001 Missouri Teacher of Merit.

The winner of this year's award may at first glance seem an unlikely recipient, in that, until she attended a workshop at a teacher's convention in 1997, she had never heard of History Day. It was her first year teaching history and she had never been to an archive or heard the terms, primary and secondary sources. But that soon changed. Since that time—in the words of her regional coordinator—“she has become an ideal example of what a History Day teacher should be.” A parent tells us, “this is a teacher who goes above and beyond what is expected,” and a former student relates that, in her class, “students catch the true spirit of what history is really about by experiencing it.”

Ms. Bohl researched and introduced History Day into her school. She says, “The students and I learned together how to actually “do” history.” She got experts to come to her class, took the students to archives, attended workshops at the regional and state levels . . . and learned every step of the way. She has had enormous success with her students at all levels of the program. In fact, two of her students placed second in the nation in their category last year.

But more importantly, Ms. Bohl is willing to share her own ideas with others. She is on advisory committees at both the regional and state levels where she contributes unstintingly to all discussions without reservation. She has judged at regional and state contests, in part to make observations to help her own and other students. And, along with two of her pupils, she presented an outstanding session at a regional teacher workshop last fall that helped others learn from their experience. Carol Bohl is, indeed, “an ideal example of what a History Day teacher should be,” and we are proud to present her with this award.

Congratulations to Ms. Carol Bohl, National History Day in Missouri's Teacher of the Year!