Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year Program

Nominations are open year round for the Massachusetts and National History Teacher of the Year programs to honor outstanding teachers of American history across the country. The Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year will automatically be the state's candidate for the National History Teacher of the Year award. The award is sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (GLI).

We are seeking outstanding K-12 teachers who find creative ways to bring history alive in the classroom and in communities.

Teachers will be selected based on the following:

• At least three years of classroom experience;
• A demonstrated commitment to teaching American history;
• Evidence of creativity and innovation in the classroom; and
• Effective use of documents, artifacts, historic sites, oral histories, and other primary resources to engage students in American history.
• Self nominations are not accepted.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History will honor each statewide winner with an award of $1,000, a certificate of recognition, an invitation to attend a Gilder Lehrman Teacher Seminar, and the opportunity for the winner's school to become a GLI Affiliate School. The Institute will also present the winner's school with a collection of American history classroom resources, given in honor of the state winner, for use in the school library or resource center.

To nominate a teacher and learn more about the award, visit the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's website or contact the National History Teacher of the Year coordinator at nhtoy@gilderlehrman.org or 646-366-9666. You may also email the educator recognition mailbox at educatorrecognition@doe.mass.edu for more information.

2022 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year

Adda Santos was born in Porto Alegre, a city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. She immigrated to the United States in 1990 to attend Northeastern University, where she stayed for two years before transferring to the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she earned a bachelor's degree in history and then a master's degree in secondary education. During most summers, Adda continues to attend history seminars, where she focuses on African American history, her main area of interest.

Before teaching, she worked as a library assistant at Lamont Library at Harvard University. In 1998, she became a teacher at Somerville High School, where she has taught for the last 24 years. Adda is a true believer in teaching "hard history" to her students and never leaving any facts or voices out of the American narrative.

In 2020, Adda was awarded the William Spratt Award for Excellence in Teaching Secondary Social Studies from the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies, and in 2021, Adda was awarded the American Association of State and Local History Leadership in History Award for her creation and work on the exhibit The Basement Project: Not Your Usual Junk at the Somerville Museum.

Adda lives in Somerville with her husband of 22 years, Keith, and her daughter, Vivian Alice, who is a junior at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and makes her parents very proud!

2022 Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year Finalists

Jane O'Brien, Diamond Middle School, Lexington Public Schools

Erica Welch, Boston Teachers Union K-8 Pilot School, Boston Public Schools

Former Massachusetts History Teachers of the Year

Last Updated: August 30, 2022