Stevenson High teacher surprised with Lincoln fellowship

Meredith Goddard received quite a surprise Thursday at the high school where she teaches and formerly attended as a student.

Accompanied by fellow social studies instructors who participated in a surprise ceremony at Lincolnshire’s Stevenson High School, Goddard was presented with a fellowship that goes to only 50 educators in the United States.

Goddard received a spot in the Horace Mann-Abraham Lincoln Fellowship Program. It’s a partnership between the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Horace Mann Companies, both in Springfield.

“I’m completely surprised,” said Goddard, 27. “I was just thinking to myself (Wednesday) that I’d be reapplying next year.”

Social studies division head Laura Brandt said she learned of Goddard’s honor last week, but kept mum until Thursday’s celebration.

Goddard graduated from Stevenson High in 2002 and began working there three years ago. Brandt said Goddard’s avid interest in history was evident in high school.

Brandt remembered Goddard’s heavy participation in Stevenson’s political action club and work with National Model United Nations in high school and at Carleton College in Minnesota. Model U.N. has conferences on issues such as regional conflicts and human rights.

“She was sort of a fixture in our social studies office as a student,” Brandt said.

As part of the one-week, all-expenses-paid summer fellowship in Springfield, Goddard and the other educators will receive exclusive access to resources and historians at the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

In addition, the teachers will take in sights such as Lincoln’s home, tomb and the law office where he worked. Educators will hear from experts on Lincoln’s life and the Civil War era.

Goddard said she has a reverence for Lincoln and looks forward to reading documents on how he handled political divisions.

“I believe it in my heart: Lincoln and his words are the closest we have to a sacred text in America,” she said.

Goddard will have more than the Springfield fellowship on her summer agenda. She’s been selected to review 1,000 U.S. history essays from high school students as an Advanced Placement reader in Louisville for the College Board.

Goddard is co-founder of the Frozen Turkey 5K charity run in Buffalo Grove, which began in 2009. Proceeds from the first two runs were donated to the Northern Illinois Food Bank.