Press Release
January 14, 2014
Contact: Leah CraigOklahoma History Center
Office: 405-522-0793
Fax: 405-522-5402
lcraig@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org
OKC Educator Named History Teacher of the Year
Teresa Potter to be Honored at Capitol
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., -- Teresa Potter, a teacher at Leslie R. Fisher Elementary School in Oklahoma City, has been named the 2013 Oklahoma History Teacher of the Year. An award presentation will be held during the opening ceremony of Colonial Day at the Oklahoma Capitol on Friday, Jan. 31, at 9:15 a.m. The award is co-sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, HISTORY®, and the Preserve America program from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
"Teresa Potter was selected for her dedication to her students and the creativity she demonstrates in the classroom with history and social studies content," said Leah Craig, curator of education at the Oklahoma History Center and state coordinator for the Oklahoma History Teacher of the Year Award. "As the director of Colonial Day at the Capitol, she helps inspire and teach students all across our state about colonial times."
During the ceremony, Potter will receive a $1,000 honorarium and framed certificate. She will be invited to a 2014 Gilder Lehrman Teacher Seminar and be eligible for the 2013 National History Teacher of the Year Award. Leslie R. Fisher Elementary will be named a Gilder Lehrman affiliate school, and the school's library will receive a core archive of history books and educational materials from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and HISTORY®
Nominations for the state and national awards are open year-round and can be made by a student, parent, colleague, supervisor, or other administrator familiar with the teacher's work. To be considered for the 2014 award, elementary teachers must be nominated by Feb. 1, 2014. For more information about the nomination process, visit www.gilderlehrman.org/nhtoy.
The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, with a mission to collect, preserve, and interpret the complete history of Oklahoma for everyone. The OHC adheres to the highest standards of collections care, presents diverse in-house and traveling exhibits, and provides multidisciplinary educational programs.
About the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization devoted to the improvement of history education. The institute has developed an array of programs for schools, teachers and students that now operate in all fifty states, including a website that features the 60,000 unique historical documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. www.gilderlehrman.org
About HISTORY®
HISTORY® and HISTORY HD® are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning, original nonfiction series and event specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. www.history.com
About Preserve America
Preserve America is a federal partnership program, begun in 2003 and led by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, that encourages and highlights community efforts to preserve and enhance the priceless cultural heritage of the United States, as well as associated natural resources. The program's goals include fostering greater public knowledge of, and appreciation for, the nation's past and its cultural traditions; encouraging broader support for saving the special places that help document and tell the story of America; strengthening civic pride and participation in ways that help build and sustain communities by preserving, enhancing, and using cultural heritage; and improving local economic vitality and livability through heritage development and heritage tourism
