2007 Joseph Webber Teaching Award Winner

This is the 13th 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.  This year's award winner is an extremely successful teacher and fine person.

Michael Murphy began working with the National History Day program at Risco Schools about 17 years ago. Risco is a small town down in the Bootheel of Missouri and there are a total of 198 students in the entire school, K-12th grade. It's hard to imagine that such a tiny school could be one of the History Day powerhouses of the state, but thanks to history teacher Michael Murphy, they are just that! History Day has developed into a matter of community pride for this smally town, which has consistently seen at least one of their students go on to National each year. Last year, Missouri had a total of 20 schools—some of them very large—represented at NHD, and only Risco had more than two entires; they had four.

Students as young as second and third grade attend the after-school sessions—watching the older students building exhibits, practicing performances, and perfecting documentaries—so they "can be ready when it's [their] time" to compete in History Day! Often, students may not be able to manage the cost of traveling to NHD, but yearlong bake sales, car washes, and other fundraisers, as well as the backing of the school administration and the rest of the community help make it all possible.

Although Michael Murphy is a shy, self-effacing man, there is absolutely nothing he wouldn't do to help his students gain a grasp of history. He puts hundreds of after-school hours into helping his students with their History Day projects throughout the entire school year.

In addition to all he does for the students, he can always be counted on to help out with whatever is needed for the History Day program. He was a charter member of the NHDMO Teacher Advisory Committee, traveling further to the meetings than anyone else and consistently contributing insight and pertinent suggestions to every discussion. He has presented sessions at several History Day workshops throughout the years and can be counted on to attend others that are held around the state.

While some teachers tend to want to keep their "secrets of success" to themselves, Murphy is very generous with his time and experience. He is now mentoring two other teachers, so that History Day will not fall by the wayside at Risco the way it has at other schools when a dynamic teacher retires. In this he is as successful as he is with his students.

Congratulations to Mr. Michael Murphy, National History Day in Missouri's Teacher of the Year!