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Jennifer Hunt, a teacher at Sedgwick Middle School in West Hartford, and D. Claude Morest, a teacher at the Academy of Information Technology & Engineering in Stamford, were both selected as the two state winners for Connecticut.
“National History Day firmly believes that quality teachers are the best educational tools that students have,” said National History Day Executive Director Cathy Gorn. “The history teachers selected as Behring Award recipients are a credit to their discipline, and exemplify what it takes to truly be a quality educator.”
Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award winners are teachers who participate in National History Day and have shown outstanding creativity, commitment and inspiration in developing student interest in the field of history. Each winner is awarded $500 and becomes eligible for the National Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award.
“This is a thoughtful recognition of the teachers who put in an extra effort to educate their students beyond the normal expectation level,” said Morest. “As one of those teachers, I am glad that NHD has recognized my hard work. This honor motivates me to continue going above and beyond the call in teaching my students how to conduct historical research and write papers.”
Morest earned his bachelor's in history from Pomona College in California, a master's in mass media research at the University of Colorado and an M.A.T. from Sacred Heart University. Before becoming a teacher, he worked as an Internet consultant for two years, helping companies to get on the web and assisting entrepreneurs with Internet startup companies.
His experience includes teaching history at Brooklawn Academy in Fairfield, SAT Prep for The Princeton Review and student-teaching at The Bridge Academy, a charter school in Bridgeport, where he served on the Board of Directors until recently. In the summer of 2001, Morest was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship to study for one month in Ghana. He has also authored and co-authored several workbooks for history and civics.
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