COLLEGE PARK, MD – May 12, 2025 – National History Day® (NHD) is proud to announce the teachers honored as the 2025 National History Day Teacher of the Year Award nominees. This year, teachers from all NHD affiliate programs were able to self-nominate for the award. Following the self-nomination process, NHD staff worked with local program staff to select up to one middle school teacher and one high school teacher to represent each affiliate for this prestigious award. In addition to celebrating outstanding history scholarship and innovative classroom instruction, the 2025 Teachers of the Year will receive a $5,000 cash prize.
Each nominee for the National History Day Teacher of the Year Award is a teacher who demonstrates a commitment to engaging students in historical learning through the innovative use of primary sources, implementation of active learning strategies to foster historical thinking skills, and participation in the National History Day Contest. 71 educators are up for the award this year.
“National History Day’s 2025 Teacher of the Year Award nominees are outstanding history educators,” said NHD Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “At a time when history education programs are facing funding cuts and increased scrutiny, these teachers are in the trenches, teaching students about important historical events and engaging them with primary sources from local libraries and archives. I couldn’t be more proud of this year’s nominees.”
One national winner in the junior division and one national winner in the senior division will be selected by a committee of experienced teachers and historians and announced on Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the National History Day National Contest Awards Ceremony in College Park, Maryland. The Awards Ceremony will begin around 9 a.m. and will be livestreamed at nhd.org/awards-ceremony.
Congratulations to this year’s National History Day Teacher of the Year Award nominees:
| NHD affiliate | Teacher | Division |
| Alabama | Dr. Roberta Kerr | Junior |
| Arizona | Mrs. Rebekah West Keur | Junior |
| Mrs. Laura Shafer | Senior | |
| Arkansas | Mr. Brandon Bagwell | Junior |
| California | Mrs. Angela Stephens | Junior |
| NHD China | Mr. Liam Birch | Junior |
| Colorado | Mrs. Anna Royal | Junior |
| Connecticut | Mrs. Kristin Behn | Junior |
| Dr. Rachel Riendeau | Senior | |
| Delaware | Mrs. Erin Sullivan | Senior |
| Florida | Mrs. Megan Dill | Junior |
| Ms. Amanda Dogu | Senior | |
| Georgia | Mr. Matthew Cook | Junior |
| Mrs. Beth Smith | Senior | |
| Guam | Mr. Jorge Emmanuel | Junior |
| Mr. Brian Paul Galang | Senior | |
| Hawaiʻi | Ms. Pualeilani Fernandez | Junior |
| Mrs. Amy Boehning | Senior | |
| Idaho | Mrs. Christine Shrode-Donohue | Junior |
| Mr. Brennan Wurtz | Senior | |
| Illinois | Mr. Vincent Coughlin | Junior |
| Mr. Michael Biondo | Senior | |
| Indiana | Ms. Ali Turnock | Junior |
| Mrs. Emily Lewellen | Senior | |
| Iowa | Mrs. Deb Temperly | Junior |
| Mrs. Susan Fritzell | Senior | |
| Kansas | Mrs. Lindsey Dowell | Junior |
| Kentucky | Mr. Billy Spalding | Junior |
| NHD Korea | Mr. Max Ho Park | Senior |
| Louisiana | Ms. Esther Perez-Zemmels | Junior |
| Maine | Ms. Jamie Karaffa | Junior |
| Mr. Shane Gower | Senior | |
| Maryland | Mr. Thomas Hayman | Junior |
| Massachusetts | Mrs. Susan Petrie | Senior |
| Michigan | Mr. Christopher Hemler | Senior |
| Minnesota | Ms. Jenny Monroe | Junior |
| Mr. Martin Marrin | Senior | |
| Missouri | Dr. Heather Van Otterloo | Junior |
| Dr. Megan Burian | Senior | |
| Montana | Mrs. Tina Strauser | Junior |
| Ms. Mary Zuchowski | Senior | |
| Nebraska | Mrs. Kim Henry | Senior |
| New Jersey | Mr. Robert Tonnesen | Junior |
| Mrs. Theresa Maughan | Senior | |
| New Mexico | Ms. Erica Davis | Junior |
| Mrs. Michelle Culberson | Senior | |
| New York | Mrs. Allison Sobel | Junior |
| Mr. Jeff Danzer | Senior | |
| North Carolina | Mr. Jeffrey Stanek | Junior |
| Mrs. Emily Lemus | Senior | |
| Ohio | Mr. Joe Parrino | Junior |
| Mr. Lance McGee | Senior | |
| Oregon | Mrs. Marsha Washburn | Junior |
| Pennsylvania | Mr. Joseph Tassoni | Senior |
| Rhode Island | Mrs. Christine Costa | Junior |
| Mrs. Patricia Buffington | Senior | |
| South Carolina | Mr. Robert DeCerbo | Junior |
| Mr. Adam Powley | Senior | |
| South Dakota | Mrs. Brett Brennan | Senior |
| Tennessee | Mr. Brandon Eldridge | Junior |
| Dr. Scott Johnson | Senior | |
| Texas | Mrs. Kristina Miller | Junior |
| Mrs. Jan Martinez | Senior | |
| Utah | Mrs. Krista White | Junior |
| Vermont | Mr. Daniel Maguire | Junior |
| Virginia | Mr. Alexander Groff | Junior |
| Ms. Stephanie Shimp | Senior | |
| Washington | Ms. Graceanne Read | Junior |
| Mr. John Zingale | Senior | |
| Wisconsin | Mr. Brandon Blahnik | Junior |
| Mrs. Carlene Baurichter | Senior |
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About National History Day (NHD): NHD is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland, that seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history. The National History Day Contest was established in 1974 and currently engages more than half a million students every year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Students present their research as a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website. Projects compete first at the local and affiliate levels, where the top entries are invited to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. NHD is sponsored in part by the 400 Years of African American History Commission, The Better Angels Society, the Bezos Family Foundation, the Joyful Noise Charitable Foundation, the Behring Global Educational Foundation, and the National Park Service. For more information, visit nhd.org.
