Nominate local teachers for 2024 National History Teacher of the Year Award

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to K–12 history education, has announced that nominations are now open for the National History Teacher of the Year Award.

Celebrating twenty-one years, this esteemed award recognizes and honors exceptional teachers from elementary through high school for their outstanding contributions to history education.

All teachers, students, parents, colleagues and supervisors in the Hawaiʻi area are invited to submit nominations for dedicated history teachers who have made a significant impact in their classrooms and communities.

Nominees for the 2024 award will be accepted until April 30, 2024. State winners will be awarded a $1,000 prize, and the national winner will be awarded a $10,000 grand prize at a special New York City ceremony.

To nominate an exceptional history teacher, visit gilderlehrman.org/nhtoy.

Previous Awardees of Hawaiʻi

• 2023 State Award – Andrea Pratt (Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School, Honolulu)
• 2022 National Award – Misha Matsumoto Yee (St. Andrew’s Schools – The Priory, Honolulu)
• 2022 State Award – Misha Matsumoto (St. Andrew’s Schools – The Priory, Honolulu)
• 2021 State Award – Melissa Perkins (ʻIolani School, Honolulu)
• 2020 State Award – Daniel Lewer (Honokaʻa High and Intermediate School, Honokaʻa)
• 2019 State Award – Sarah Campbell Johnson (ʻIolani School, Honolulu)
• 2018 State Award – Robert Tam (Punahou School, Honolulu)
• 2017 State Award – Amy Diegal (Mililani Waena Elementary School, Mililani)
• 2016 State Award – Scott Clarke (H.P. Baldwin High School, Wailuku)
• 2015 State Award – Irene Yamashita (Kainalu Elementary School, Kailua)
• 2014 State Award – James Chun (Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu)
• 2013 State Award – Colleen Spring (Lāʻie Elementary School, Lāʻie)
• 2012 State Award – Amy Perruso (Mililani High School, Mililani)
• 2011 State Award – Lori Kidani (Mōkapu Elementary School, Kailua)
• 2010 State Award – Wendi Vincent (Sacred Hearts Academy, Honolulu)
• 2009 State Award – Laura M.Y. Brown (Pearl Ridge Elementary School, ʻAiea)
• 2008 State Award – Cynthia Tong (Mililani High School, Mililani)
• 2007 State Award – Paul Waite (Kahuku Elementary School, Kahuku)
• 2006 State Award – Kevin Chaitin (Moanalua High School, Honolulu)
• 2005 State Award – Renee Adams (Samuel Enoka Kalama Intermediate, Makawao)
• 2004 State Award – Wray Jose (Moanalua High School, Honolulu)

The National History Teacher of the Year Award program serves as a significant platform, providing an invaluable opportunity to recognize and celebrate educators from diverse backgrounds, who passionately support students from all walks of life and communities, fostering a richer and more inclusive understanding of history.

In 2022, Hawaiʻi teacher Misha Matsumoto Yee, a history teacher at St. Andrew’s Schools in Honolulu, was named the National History Teacher of the Year. Yee had prepared students to attend the American Judicature Society (AJS) National Conference in December 2021, where St. Andrew’s Schools was the only high school in attendance. She served as a reader for the College Board’s AP US History Exam since 2018 and presented at the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities’ Democracy and the Informed Citizen workshop in 2018; her presentation integrated the use of comic books as primary sources in American history curriculum.