2005 Joseph Webber Teaching Award Winner

This is the 11th 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.

Karen Grimmett is a real dynamo for History Day. She has been bringing students to the state contest for many years and nearly always has more than one winner come across the stage.

Ms. Grimmett is the enrichment teacher for Iva E. Wells Middle School in Seneca, Missouri—a small town in the southwest corner of the state. Though she comes from an extremely competitive History Day region—or perhaps BECAUSE she does—her students nearly always do very well at State. Last year, of the 6 entries she brought to state, 5 won medals and 3 went on to national. Quite impressive!

But Ms. Grimmett doesn't stop there. She's always working toward becoming a still better teacher. She consistently attends conferences, joins committees and attends classes, in addition to her regular teaching duties. Karen is a member of the NHDMO teacher advisory committee and always contributes to the discussions. In the past couple of years, she has also participated in, and formed part of the leadership team, of a Teaching American History project entitled, "The Ozarks and the Nation." One of the goals of the project has been to involve more area teachers in History Day and Ms Grimmett's enthusiasm in the program has been a very effective recruiter.

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