GNHS Teacher Named PBS National Teacher of Merit

Emily Weiss always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She had her hopes set on it from early on when some of her teachers showed a ‘new way of teaching.'

“They really put the students at the center of learning,” says Weiss of the way one college professor taught students how to be engaged learners instead of passive learners. Part of that theory is getting kids involved in what they are learning, instead of just learning it from the book.

That is Weiss’ main focus as a US History teacher at Grayslake North High School. And, that is why she was named the PBS National Teacher of Merit for 2011 by National History Day.

The award recognizes one National History Day teacher with less than five years of experience in the classroom for innovative teaching in history. 

"If someone has a vision and works at it they can really make a difference," said Charlotte Renehan, president of the . "Emily is really making a difference."

In her first year at , Weiss started up the history fair, something that hasn’t been done at the school in several years. Weiss says the hands on experience is for kids to not just learn history but to do it – finding a point in history they can dispute, locating their own sources, analyzing the liability of past sources, and creating a presentation.

Those presentations move from the local to regional, state and national levels. This year one of Weiss’ students took his project to the national competition.

GNHS student Matt Teubert’s display on the Manhattan Project, the scientific effort that led to the creation of the atomic bombs the United States dropped near the end of World War II won him fourth place in his display room.

Weiss helped guide him through the selection, research and presentation at the NHD Competition at the University of Maryland in June; a process that required dozens of work hours outside of the classroom.

“She has shown her dedication and investment into what National History Day is all about,” says Lisa Oppenheim, of the Chicago Metro History Fair, the regional organization which helps run the History Fair programs.

“It takes a teacher that believes in a process to put in the extra effort and really help her students with this.” Oppenheim added.

Weiss and her students did local research at the .

"It starts with the person. You have to make that person feel connected with history for history to come alive," said Renehan of the way Weiss teaches her students.

Before becoming a teacher Weiss worked for a non-profit organization focused on International Human rights. That experience helped her realize how much of a connection history has to the current times. “For me being aware of history and knowledgeable of what came before is something you can use in any aspect of your life.”

Weiss says there is a shift in thinking and teaching at many of the local schools, especially GNHS. She says many educators are looking for and incorporating hands-on experience into what they are teaching. Weiss says the History Fair projects are a good way for kids to be involved with school and a good way to learn 21st century skills.

Several letters of recommendation were sent in to help Weiss secure the award. One former student, Katherine Warman of Maine West High School in Des Plaines where Weiss used to teach said, “Her skill, knowledge, and support toward each student creates an interest in history and how each topic is relevant today. She made a very positive impact on my life.”

“Emily is an exciting novice teacher, committed to using a variety of activities to reach all of her students,” said Peggy Hall-Heineman, social studies teacher at Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center in Chicago, where Weiss did her student teaching. “She was one of the best teachers that I have ever worked with,” she said of Weiss.

The PBS National Teacher of Merit award includes a PBS documentary library and a $5,000 cash prize for Weiss’s classroom. It is one of three annual awards given to teachers at National History Day for creative teaching.

The Chicago Metro History Education Center works to inspire students’ interest in history and improve history education in K-12 classrooms in the Chicago area.

It serves 20,000 students, 500 teachers in more than 150 area schools who participate in history contests on the local, regional, state and national levels.