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• Teachers from California, Idaho and Indiana receive American Civic Education Teacher Awards

Teachers from California, Idaho and Indiana receive American Civic Education Teacher Awards

• Aug. 6, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Teachers from California, Idaho and Indiana are recipients of the 2015 American Civic Education Teacher Awards, recognizing their exemplary work preparing young people to become informed and engaged citizens. The ACETA winners are Jose Flores of Brawley Union High School in California; Holly Kartchner of Blackfoot High School in Idaho; and Jill Baisinger of Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.

The awards are given annually to teachers of civics, government and related subjects who have demonstrated exceptional expertise, dynamism and creativity in motivating students to learn about the Constitution, Congress and public policy. ACETA is sponsored by the Center on Congress at Indiana University, the Center for Civic Education and the National Education Association.

Charles N. Quigley, executive director of the Center for Civic Education, praised Flores, Kartchner and Baisinger for their dedication to helping young people learn the information and skills necessary to participate as effective and responsible citizens.

“We are grateful for all these teachers do to ensure that each succeeding generation understands the principles and values of our representative democracy,” Quigley said.

Lee Hamilton, director of the Center on Congress, praised the awardees for their “devotion to encouraging students to contribute to community and country."

"Our political system needs conscientious and enlightened citizens in order to thrive," he said. "These teachers are intensely focused on helping students understand and embrace the responsibilities of citizenship."

National Education Association President Lily Eskelsen García said, “These awardees inspire us with their passionate commitment to explaining democracy and citizenship in ways that engage and challenge young people. Opening students’ minds to the world around them, guiding them toward an understanding that they can have a say in what goes on in local, state and federal government -- this is civic education at its best.”

Each year the ACETA program selects and showcases three teachers whose students represent the diversity of the American public and private school systems. Applicants must be full-time classroom teachers of grades K-12. There is no fee to apply. Applicants must submit a two-page self-portrait essay, their resume and three letters of recommendation -- two from teaching peers and one from their school principal.

Brawley Union High School, where Jose Flores teaches, is in Imperial County, a rural, largely agricultural area along the U.S. border with Mexico. The school has a large number of students from lower socio-economic backgrounds who have recently immigrated to the U.S. and are classified as English-language learners.

“These students get a hands-on education that goes beyond the classroom,” Flores wrote in his self-portrait essay. “We have formed strong partnerships with our local school board, city council, county supervisors, state representatives, local courts, the Court of Appeals, Region 9 Environmental Protection Agency and Comite Civico. Students visit their meetings, and they daily read and discuss current events dealing with government at the city, county, state and federal levels.

“The students collaborate, communicate and think critically,” Flores added. “They get involved with local campaigns and service clubs and have branched out to tackle local water, soil and air quality issues. Our motto is: ‘We make a commitment not to be spectators. We get involved by becoming informed, civic-minded individuals who contribute to and improve our community.’”

Flores earned a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University-Imperial Valley and a master’s degree from Grand Canyon University. He has been teaching for 23 years.

Awardee Holly Kartchner of Idaho wrote that she strives to create a classroom environment that encourages deliberative thought and dialogue.

“Students are expected to communicate effectively while applying constitutional principles reinforced with sound legal and historical reasoning,” she wrote. “Every day, my government students write a paragraph about a current event or political topic and then discuss the issue with their classmates. Although students may disagree, or find the subject matter unsettling, hearing alternative viewpoints develops a student’s sense of self in our society.”

She emphasizes projects that require students to work in groups. “A team working environment allows students the opportunity to gain collaborative skills that are essential in today’s workforce. … It is important to encourage students to establish an inner sense of personal and social responsibility, including productive personal relationships and strong communication skills.”

Kartchner’s academic training came at Idaho State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in speech communication and a master’s degree in political science, American history and public law. She has taught at Blackfoot since 2004 and has coached the school’s “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” teams to multiple state championships.

Jill Baisinger of Indiana wrote that she is guided by the principle that “Citizens are the center of our representative democracy, and therefore need to be educated in the philosophies and constitutional principles on which our system of government is founded.”

A co-coach of five Model United Nations teams, she said, “We are not just citizens of the United States but of the world. Students should be knowledgeable about how the U.S. interacts with other nations.” She has introduced students to the judicial process through mock courts and created connections between her students and judges, lawyers, state representatives and other government officials.

She has been teaching for 15 years -- at Cathedral High School since 2010, and before that at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Ind. Her “We the People” teams at Cathedral and Hamilton Southeastern have won numerous district and state competitions and several times have placed highly in national competitions.

Baisinger graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor’s degree in secondary social studies education and earned a master’s degree in economic and entrepreneurship education from the University of Delaware. In August she will receive a master’s degree in American history and government from Ashland University.

With the recognition this year of Flores, Kartchner and Baisinger, the ACETA program now has honored 30 teachers since the awards were first given in 2006. Announcements of previous ACETA awardees are available online.

About the sponsoring organizations

The Center on Congress is a nonpartisan educational institution established in 1999 to help improve the public’s understanding of Congress and to encourage civic engagement.

The Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to fostering the development of informed, responsible participation in civic life by citizens committed to the values and principles fundamental to American constitutional democracy.

The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 3.5 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.