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EASTCHESTER, N.Y. – Tuckahoe High School social studies teacher Jean Heinsohn has earned national recognition after being chosen to attend one of 17 national workshops with other top teachers from across the country.
Heinsohn, a veteran teacher in the district, was chosen from a national applicant pool to attend a history and culture workshop that is being hosted by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
The NEH is a federal agency that provides opportunities for teachers to attend workshops over the summer to improve their knowledge in the classroom. This will mark the fifth NEH workshop that Heinsohn has been invited to after a lengthy application process.
This year, Heinsohn will be traveling to the Pacific Northwest for the first time to participate in the “Atomic West, Atomic World,” workshop, which will be held at the North East Washington Educational Service District. The workshop will analyze the Hanford Site, a nuclear production complex in the state of Washington, that was key in the Manhattan Project.
“The grant will cover multiple perspectives about the difficult decisions our nation faced in the tumult of World War II and the Cold War,” she said. “These grants provide me with a deeper, hands-on knowledge of my subject, but have allowed me to network with amazing teachers from all over the country and abroad.”
In her application, Heinsohn had to submit a professional resume and an essay explaining how her presence at the workshop would positively influence her students. Tuckahoe Schools Superintendent Barbara Nuzzi said she wasn’t surprised that the longtime teacher was once again honored by the NEH.
“Mrs. Heinsohn is an accomplished, veteran Tuckahoe High School social studies teacher,” she said. “Our students benefit daily from her exemplary teaching skills and her commitment to being a lifelong learner.”
Heinsohn said that the grants have become invaluable tools for her, and through them, she has gotten to explore the country. Although she’s been in the classroom for 15 years, she said that she has never stopped learning through her job.
“I am constantly amazed at how much there still is to learn. The impact of hands on history is amazing. Words cannot describe the emotion of being at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham or sitting on Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s porch in Seneca Falls,” she said. “Inevitably, this emotion transcends through my classroom I am constantly amazed at how much more there is to learn.”
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