Each year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars selects elementary, middle, and high school teachers to participate in the Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher program.
Please review the new rules and eligibility requirements and download the 2022 entry form to nominate a teacher you know. Teacher nomination entries must be received at a local participating VFW Post by the Oct. 31 deadline.
Last Year's Winner was: Lisa Russell, a first-grade teacher at East Elementary School in Mountain Home, Idaho, has been selected as the 2022 Smart/Maher VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award. Russell, sponsored by VFW Post 5423 in Mountain Home, Idaho. With more than 23 years of experience, Russell is well known for her creativity, dedication to her students, and her work within the community. Her lesson plans proudly include patriotic projects centered around the events of Sept. 11 and Pearl Harbor, while including a first-hand account from Pearl Harbor attack survivor Lorraine Kirkland. From encouraging students to participate in local patriotic essay competitions and to providing enrichment opportunities like having the mayor attend virtual class, patriotism and civil responsibility are often key discussion points in her classroom.
Teacher Of the Year: