"I grew up near King's Mountain, N.C.", said Ms. McElroy. "When I was a little girl, my father and I used to travel all over the battlegrounds there and he would tell me stories about the history." Her love of history and its importance is reflected in the students' enthusiasm to learn about their own history in her classes. Ms.McElroy's students and parents celebrated the event. Many new resources have been donated to the Fulton Library in her name.

Fulton teacher named State History Teacher of Year

Gloria McElroy, a social studies teacher at Fulton High school, was recognized as the Tennessee History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Preserve America.

McElroy is now in the running for the National History Teacher of the Year award to be presented this fall. At the ceremony, held during one of McElroy’s classes, McElroy received a $1,000 honorarium and a core archive of history books and materials donated to the Fulton High School library in her name by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Inaugurated in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award is designed to promote and celebrate the teaching of American history in classrooms across the United States. It honors one exceptional K-12 teacher of American history from each state and U.S. territory. The selection of the state winner is based upon several criteria, including: experience in teaching American history for at least three years; a deep career commitment to teaching American history; evidence of creativity and imagination in the classroom; and close attention to documents, artifacts, historic sites, and the other primary materials of history.

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. Increasingly national and international in scope, the Institute targets audiences ranging from students to scholars to the general public. It creates history-centered schools and academic research centers, organizes seminars and enrichment programs for educators, partners with school districts to implement Teaching American History grants, produces print and electronic publications and traveling exhibitions, and sponsors lectures by eminent historians. The Institute also funds awards including the Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and George Washington Book Prizes and offers fellowships for scholars to work in history archives, including the Gilder Lehrman Collection.

Preserve America is a White House initiative that encourages greater shared knowledge about the nation’s past and increased local participation in preserving the country’s cultural and natural heritage assets.