Maine South teacher earns National History Day Teacher of the Year nomination

National History Day recently announced the teachers honored as the 2025 National History Day Teacher of the Year Award nominees.

This year, teachers from all NHD affiliate programs were able to self-nominate for the award. Following the self-nomination process, NHD staff worked with local program staff to select up to one middle school teacher and one high school teacher to represent each affiliate for this prestigious award.

In addition to celebrating outstanding history scholarship and innovative classroom instruction, the 2025 Teachers of the Year will receive a $5,000 cash prize.

Each nominee for the National History Day Teacher of the Year Award is a teacher who demonstrates a commitment to engaging students in historical learning through the innovative use of primary sources, implementation of active learning strategies to foster historical thinking skills, and participation in the National History Day Contest.

Seventy-one educators are up for the award this year including Maine South social science teacher Michael Biondo who was nominated in the senior division.

“National History Day’s 2025 Teacher of the Year Award nominees are outstanding history educators,” said NHD Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “At a time when history education programs are facing funding cuts and increased scrutiny, these teachers are in the trenches, teaching students about important historical events and engaging them with primary sources from local libraries and archives. I couldn’t be more proud of this year’s nominees.”

One national winner in the junior division and one national winner in the senior division will be selected by a committee of experienced teachers and historians and announced on Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the National History Day National Contest Awards Ceremony in College Park, Maryland.