The Outstanding Teacher of American History Contest honors notable, full-time teachers of American History and related fields, such as social studies, government, and citizenship in public, private, and parochial schools in grades 5-12. This is an excellent way for chapters to recognize and publicize the contributions of outstanding teachers in your communities.

The application form and current instruction sheet are included on the NSDAR members’ website. Read the instructions carefully and be sure that all required documents are part of the dossier. Since any one of the entries could be a state winner and since the state winner’s dossier must contain ALL required documentation in order to be submitted to National, please be sure that your entry does contain ALL the required documentation, including a letter of endorsement from the sponsoring DAR chapter signed by the chapter regent or vice regent, before mailing it to the State Historian.

The state winner is honored at the State Conference in March and receives a monetary award.

The deadline for the State Historian to receive the chapter winners’ dossiers for competition is October 29, 2018. Please send the dossier in ample time to meet this deadline. The original dossier plus three (3) copies of the dossier, must be sent to the State Historian at her home address, NOT the headquarters in Glendora. Please see that your chapter winner’s entry with all required items and copies are mailed to:

Janice Swayze
1843 Neva Ct.
Santa Maria, CA, 93454

The State Historian arranges for three (3) non-DAR judges to select the state winner. If the State Historian does not receive a total of four items (one original and three photocopies) at her home by the deadline of October 29, 2018, the dossier will not be included in the judging for the state-level competition.

Chapters may obtain a free chapter winner certificate from the Office of the Historian General. Remember, this is a great way to promote education and honor a local teacher at the same time.

Janice Swayze
State Historian
historian@californiadar.org