Crawford Teacher Names 2024 Nebraska History Teacher of the Year

Nathan Kackmeister, a teacher at Crawford Public Schools was recently named the 2024 State History Teacher of the Year, an award sponsored by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

In 2024, parents, students, teachers, and administrators nationwide nominated more than 7,000 teachers for the History Teacher of the Year Award. In that very competitive field, Nathan Kackmeister rose to the top in Nebraska.

The History Teacher of the Year Award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary through high school. The award honors one exceptional K-12 teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools, and U.S. territories.

As a classroom educator, Kackmeister is driven by a desire to instill in his students historical thinking skills like inquiry, research, multiple perspectives, and synthesis to create and tell the stories they have found. Kackmeister requires each of his students to dive deeper into the nation’s past to find understanding and knowledge through accurate and reliable sources from differing perspectives, to corroborate and evaluate a source. Mr. Kackmeister believes that knowing and understanding one’s own history is critical.

Kackmeister will receive a $1,000 award and Crawford will become a Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School, receiving history books and educational materials from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Kackmeister will also be a finalist for the $10,000 National History Teacher of the Year Award.