D.C. Teacher Wins Mount Vernon's History Teacher of the Year

Heroes and villains, victories and defeats, celebrations and disasters, all have their place in history.

Now, thanks to Mount Vernon’s History Teacher of the Year Award, so do the exceptional individuals who teach it.

This year’s winner, Amy Trenkle, an 8th-grade history teacher at Stuart-Hobson Middle School in Washington, D.C., is the first winner to represent a middle school since the award’s inception six years ago. 

“I love middle school; I love the age,” said Trenkle, whose initial interest was in elementary education. “They have a lot of questions and every day is an exactly new day…you never know what you’re going to get and that’s kind of exciting.”

Trenkle, who majored in sociology and minored in English, obtained her teaching certificate in secondary education from Kalamazoo College in Michigan. She did her student teaching at Stuart-Hobson in 1996, returned to teach in 1999, and found her passion there.

She was encouraged to apply for the award by a previous winner, Jim Percoco. The contest asks teachers to write an essay explaining their personal teaching beliefs.

For Trenkle, these beliefs lie in setting up a foundation early on so that students remain interested in the subject later in their educational careers.

“Social studies isn’t one of the mandated [subjects] four years necessarily, so I think it’s really important to build an enthusiasm so that they want to continue on with the social studies and become better engaged citizens and active participants,” said Trenkle, who incorporates technology, such as blogs, class projects and field trips to continuously engage her 8th-grade students.

The award, sponsored by an endowment established by the Robertson Foundation, rewards the merits of D.C.-area history teachers. The winner receives a cash prize of $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid field trip to the Mount Vernon Estate.

According to Trenkle, some of the award money will be certain to end up back in the classroom in the form of donations. But what she looks forward to most is the field trip, which will involve this year’s incoming 8th-grade class.

In addition to being thankful for the award, Trenkle is also highly appreciative of the focus on history as a subject.

“I really would like to thank Mount Vernon…I think with testing, you get a lot about reading, you get a lot about math but I think it’s really, really important to recognize social studies and history and that it’s not something that it’s OK to move off to the side. And I think this award is a nice way to kind of bring that to the light and to kind of say that’s important,” Trenkle said.

In addition to teaching middle school students, Trenkle is an adjunct professor at American University and won the 2005 D.C. History Teacher of the Year Award.

Previous award winners include:

2010: Ellanor Peck, Cameron Elementary School, grade 4, Alexandria, Va.

2009: James Percoco, West Springfield High School, grades 9-12, Springfield, Va.

2008: Jennifer Hill, Osbourn Park High School, grades 9-12, Manassas, Va.

2007: Stacy Hoeflich, John Adams Elementary School, grade 4, Alexandria, Va.