Jon Carl '95, a social studies teacher at F.J.Reitz High School in Evansville, was named Indiana’s History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Preserve America.

Carl has been teaching for 10 years and has been at F.J. Reitz High School for six years.  He graduated from USI in 1995 earning a bachelor's in social science teaching; in 1999 he received a Master's in Secondary Education.    

In addition to the award, Carl received a $1,000 honorarium, and a core archive of history books and materials was donated to the Reitz Library.

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.

“This award gives us the chance to recognize great history teachers across the country,” said Lesley Herrmann, Executive Director of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. “It puts exceptional educators front and center.”

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.