Montana Historical Society Board of Trustees Educator's Award Policy
The Montana Historical Society Board of Trustees will select and award annually a Montana History Teacher (or Educator's) Award.
The Society's "Statement of Philosophical and Procedural Guidelines" (3.8.2.) outlines the parameters for this award. Changes to the guidelines were adopted by the Board at the April 2006 Board of Trustees meeting. The revised guidelines are as follows:
The person selected for this annual award should be conspicuous for his/her long-term commitment to and demonstrated skill in creating interest, respect, knowledge, and appropriate comprehension and understanding of Montana history in his/her students. Further, this person will have taught his/her students, appropriate to their grade level, the skills of professional historical research, inquiry, and evaluation using primary source materials in the process. This person will have employed both the best traditions of historical practice as well as innovative techniques for researching and presenting historical findings. (Montana history is here understood to mean a study of this region, the state, a community, or a particular theme related to any of the above, specifically and in broader context.)
In addition to the basic criteria outlined above, the following factors may be taken into consideration in identifying and evaluating candidates for this award:
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Length of successful teaching service in this field;
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Evidence that the teacher has taught other teachers the importance of and ways to research and present Montana history;
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Ongoing interaction with the resources and staff of the Montana Historical Society and/or with the resources and staff of other community, university, regional museums, archives, and historical societies;
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Development of long-lasting products of use to community and state researchers;
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A commitment to returning research findings to the community, the state, or the region; and
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Evidence that the teacher has changed community perceptions about Montana history and its relevance.
Method of Selection
The award will be promoted through a variety of pertinent methods, such as the newsletters of the MT School Board Association, County Superintendents, MT Indian Educators Association, Office of Public Instruction, MT Education Association - MT Federation of Teachers, and the State Archivists, as well as through preservation list serves, etc. Anyone, including Society staff and Board members, can submit a completed nomination form to the Awards Committee chair or the chair's designee.
The Awards Committee will select finalists and recommend the top three nominees and present the person(s) to the Board at the July Board meeting. From these finalists, the Trustees, by majority vote, shall ordinarily select no more than one individual per year to receive this award. Group awards may also be given under circumstances where two or more people have worked together to achieve a common goal of historical educational significance. It is the opinion of the Awards Committee that giving more than one Educator’s award per year compromises the prestige of the award.
The Trustees should, if at all possible, attempt to honor living individuals who, though having demonstrated a full life of service to Montana history education, can still enjoy the award. The Trustees may consider individuals for the award who have served previously on the MHS Board of Trustees, so long as their contributions to Montana history education meet all other criteria described here.
After selection by the Board, the staff of the Society shall arrange for a suitable award to be presented at the annual Montana History Conference. Staff will maintain a file of previously considered candidates and the dates on which they were considered and not selected.
History of the Educator's Award
The Board voted in July 1999 to develop guidelines or criteria for this award, and at their April 2000 meeting, they agreed to develop a list of nominees for the year 2000 from the pool of Montana Heritage Project teachers. This award was given twice before the year 2000 and every year since 2000.
