Lower School Teacher Named Outstanding Educator
Third grade teacher Amanda Stallings is the recipient of the Outstanding Educator of the Year award from the Oregon-California Trails Association.
The Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) is the nation’s largest and most influential organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of overland emigrant trails and the emigrant experience.
The Outstanding Educator Award recognizes excellence in teaching westward overland migration. The award honors those who educate their students about the reasons that thousands of people left their homes in the East and headed West in the 1840s.
“Amanda Stallings makes sure her students understand why this migration happened by giving them the tools and unique learning opportunities essential to engendering a lifelong interest in history,” the association said in announcing the award. “Through her efforts to make the past come alive for her students, Amanda is helping develop the next generation of stewards of our nation's history.”
Lower school Division Director Todd Nelson said Ms. Stallings' collaboration with OCTA's Trails Head chapter has resulted in a singular experience for Barstow students.
"Amanda and Trails Head members developed one-of-a-kind field trips that allow students to visit historic sites where they can interact with Trails Head members who help interpret the sites for them," he said. Her lessons highlight the Kansas City region's rich history as a starting points for the Oregon, California and Santa Fe trails, used by pioneers making a 2,000-mile journey west during the early and mid-1800s. Barstow sits near the corridor where the trails converged.
The Outstanding Educator award will be presented at OCTA's annual convention in September.
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The Outstanding Educator Award recognizes excellence in teaching westward overland migration. The award honors those who educate their students about the reasons that thousands of people left their homes in the East and headed West in the 1840s.
“Amanda Stallings makes sure her students understand why this migration happened by giving them the tools and unique learning opportunities essential to engendering a lifelong interest in history,” the association said in announcing the award. “Through her efforts to make the past come alive for her students, Amanda is helping develop the next generation of stewards of our nation's history.”
Lower school Division Director Todd Nelson said Ms. Stallings' collaboration with OCTA's Trails Head chapter has resulted in a singular experience for Barstow students.
"Amanda and Trails Head members developed one-of-a-kind field trips that allow students to visit historic sites where they can interact with Trails Head members who help interpret the sites for them," he said. Her lessons highlight the Kansas City region's rich history as a starting points for the Oregon, California and Santa Fe trails, used by pioneers making a 2,000-mile journey west during the early and mid-1800s. Barstow sits near the corridor where the trails converged.
The Outstanding Educator award will be presented at OCTA's annual convention in September.
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Barstow third grade teacher Amanda Stallings is OCTA's Outstanding Educator of the Year.
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Her social studies curriculum incudes field trips, research and hands-on projects related to the westward trails near Barstow that led pioneers west in the 1800s.
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OCTA praised Ms. Stallings for her efforts to "make the past come alive for her students."
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