KET News

Hardin County teacher chosen as National Mission US Educator of the Year

Laureen Laumeyer, a 5th grade teacher at Hardin County’s Meadow View Elementary School, has been named National Mission US Educator of the Year for her innovative use of a new interactive history learning game. Laumeyer was nominated for the award by KET, who partnered with Mission US’s developer, THIRTEEN/WNET.ORG, New York’s public media provider, to introduce the resource. Laumeyer will receive a trip to New York to speak at the 6th annual THIRTEEN/WNET.ORG Celebration of Teaching and Learning this March.

Mission US is a series of free, interactive online games and materials for teaching American history. KET was one of ten public television stations chosen to participate in a special teacher training initiative in 2010. The Kentucky Department of Education, the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Council for the Social Studies worked with KET to show teachers the first game in the series, “For Crown or Colony?”, set in the Revolutionary War period. In the game, students log on at www.mission-us.org to play the role of Nat Wheeler, a printer’s apprentice in Boston in 1770, who learns about the growing tensions between Loyalists and Patriots by meeting a variety of historical characters and witnessing the Boston Massacre. The choices the player makes determine where Nat’s loyalty lies and his ultimate fate.

“Laureen has always wanted her students to gain so much more out of class than knowing dates and events. She wants them to fully understand that history is exciting and that there were some wonderful characters and events that helped shape our society, country and world,” said Jim Sullivan, Meadow View Elementary principal. “To be honest, I’m really not surprised Laureen won this award. Her passion for student-learning is powerful. I’m so happy for her, her students, her family and our school.”

“I was simply ecstatic to hear the news about Laureen’s award. She works hard every day to make sure our students understand the importance of our history and the impact it has on them. Laureen’s enthusiastic work ethic is contagious. All Hardin County Schools students, faculty and staff are so proud of Laureen,” said Hardin County Schools Superintendent Nannette Johnston.

Laumeyer was introduced to Mission US when KET education staff demonstrated it at the Kentucky Council for Social Studies Convention last September. She later attended a training session conducted by Jana Kirchner, Teaching American History grant coordinator at the Green River Educational Cooperative. Kirchner was one of a team of educators across the state enlisted by KET to raise awareness of the game.

“Once I played it for myself I was hooked,” Laumeyer said. “The game and all the engaging activities are a wonderful tool to help my students understand their history.” Using the Mission US game and activities, “my students were so engrossed in learning that they didn’t want to stop for lunch.”

“Laureen integrated technology, literacy, social studies and the arts in a way that made learning truly alive and exciting for her students,” said Mendy Meehan, social studies consultant at the Kentucky Department of Education.

According to Teresa Day, director of arts and special projects at KET, Laumeyer was one of about 2,800 Kentucky teachers introduced to Mission US. “We heard of so many exciting ways that teachers used this wonderful resource, and we are especially proud that Laureen went on from state recognition to receive this national award.”

Along with Laumeyer, KET also named Latisha Cardwell and Amy Smith-Thomas of Butler County Middle School as Kentucky Mission US Educators of the Year. KET also designated several Kentucky teachers as honorable mention winners, including Dana Carman, Breckinridge County; Leanna Prater and Jamie Burch, Fayette County; Ilah Conley, Florence Elementary School; and Kyla Hatfield, Russell-McDowell Intermediate School.

According to Day, Kentucky teachers are excited about the second game in the Mission US series, scheduled for release in 2011. “This ‘mission’ is set partly in Kentucky in the Civil War era,” she said. The Mission US project was funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.

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