2024 Georgia History Teacher of the Year

Experiences Advocating for History Education in Georgia

While I was accepting the 2024 Gilder Lehrman Georgia History Teacher of the Year Award in Athens, I had the chance to appear on a podcast to advocate for global citizenship education and inquiry-based, problem-based learning. In Georgia, where history education is threatened not only by the Divisive Concepts Law (making it hard to even give students ACCESS to primary source documents that may paint the US in an unfavorable light), but by omission from elementary and middle school classrooms, it is important to take any opportunity available to advocate for our subject. Here's the thing: all subjects are important, and since I view education holistically, linked. However, if our goal is to create problem-solving citizens who work towards a more just and peaceful world... we will miss the mark without social studies. All the math knowledge in the world is irrelevant if it's not used to solve real problems facing the planet, humanity, and nature. Literature and art are meant to move us, sometimes emotionally, but often to action. By continuing to limit access to social studies, Georgia, you are succeeding in your quest to dismantle public education because yet another generation will not understand citizenship, voting laws, or their constitutional rights. But we will not stop fighting to keep history in the classrooms. We will not back down from this fight.

Thank you to the GCSS for having me at the conference. It was an honor.