Adam Laye, social studies department chair at Parkville High School, has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2021 National History Teacher of the Year. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History selected the finalists from among the National History Teacher of the Year winners from all 50 states, U.S. Department of Defense schools, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories.
The national winner will be announced later this month. An in-person ceremony for the winner will be held in late fall 2021, health and safety protocols permitting. Support for the National History Teacher of the Year Award ceremony is provided by HISTORY®.
“We are so proud of Adam Laye for his exemplary teaching and leadership and for receiving this extraordinary honor,” said Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams.
Laye has been teaching American history and American government for the past 15 years. He taught at Randallstown High before Parkville High. It was in college, at Frostburg State College, that Laye decided to apply his interest in social sciences to a career in education. Laye, who holds both a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and a master’s degree in teaching from Frostburg, is recognized for his inquiry-based approach to teaching history.
“I enjoy the challenge of making history relevant to my students’ lives,” Laye said, “by giving them the tools to derive meaning from it.”
Inaugurated in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school. The award honors one K-12 teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, U.S. Department of Defense schools and U.S. Territories. In fall 2021, the National History Teacher of the Year will be selected from the pool of state winners.
Nominations for the 2022 History Teacher of the Year awards are now open. Students, parents, colleagues, and supervisors may nominate K-12 teachers for the award. The deadline for 2022 nominations is March 31, 2022.
