| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 2, 2007 |
CONTACT: Beth Felice (800) 357-0909 beth @ mohumanities.org |
Each year the Governor of Missouri and the Missouri Humanities Council celebrate the accomplishments of people who have made exceptional contributions to our understanding of Missouri, its people, and its stories. The Humanities Education Award recognizes one or more teachers of English, history, languages or social studies, grades K-12 in public or private Missouri schools. .
An eighth grade social studies teacher at South Valley Junior High School in Liberty, Eric Langhorst uses the rich media and communications tools of the internet to amplify his teaching and engage students in his classes, as well as students and teachers around the world. His goal is to make learning meaningful and exciting for his students, “Teaching about George, Thomas and Abe using the latest technology.”
This past fall his students read Pat Hughes’ Guerilla Season is about the friendship of two 15-year-old boys who live in a dangerous time and place, western Missouri in 1863. Eric’s students were able to correspond directly with Ms. Hughes through blogs. Another class in California, studying the civil war time, and with fewer personal ties to this chapter of history, participated along with Eric’s class in the conversation. This exercise was featured in USA Today on November 15, 2006, and in School Library Journal for December 2006.
The Missouri Chapter of the DAR recently awarded Mr. Langhorst the Missouri History Teacher of the Year. In a surprise ceremony on April 23, 2007 Mr. Langhorst was named Liberty Teacher of the Year. In August the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education selected Eric Missouri’s Teacher of the Year 2007, and our state’s candidate for the 2008 National Teacher of the Year award.
At South Valley, Eric is the social studies department chairperson, on the district’s technology team and was head eighth-grade boys’ basketball coach from 2001-2007. He is on faculty at Park University, Parkville, and serves on the Clay County Historical Society Board of Directors.
Eric was raised in Howells, Nebraska and holds degrees from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and Lincoln.
“One thing I’m very excited about is the opportunity to discuss the potential of the web 2.0 classroom with a broader audience,” writes Eric, “and I can’t wait to spread the potential of blogs, podcasts, wikis, etc. to a variety of people.”
A recent example of the creativity and invention uses to engage is found in podcast #120 - Teaching the Declaration of Independence as a Break Up Letter, on his blog "Speaking of History."
These awards are based on nominations from the public, for outstanding contributions by a person, group, or organization to the humanities in Missouri. The deadline for submission for next year's awards is Friday, January 25th, 2008. To submit a nomination, please complete a one page information form, and include a one page summary and any supporting material to illustrate the nominee's accomplishments.
Missouri Humanities Council
543 Hanley Industrial Ct., Ste. 201
St. Louis, MO 63144-1905
(314) 781-9660 (800) 357-0909