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	Last updated 12.15.04

The NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence

2004 Finalist and Recipient of The Horace Mann–
NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence

Katherine Scott Sturdevant
Colorado Education Association (CEA)

Katherine Scott Sturdevant is Chair of the History Department as well as member of the history faculty at Pikes Peak Community College (PPCC). She is a unique teacher who believes that history is the story of everyday life.

Ms. Sturdevant uses her classroom to illustrate this point while making learning fun for her students. Her classes are always popular, due to her interactive, innovative teaching style—incorporating elements such as storytelling, props, demonstrations, artifacts, and guest speakers—that turn an ordinary history lesson into a memorable one. Her colleagues note that she “makes history come alive.” “I enjoy rebuilding history in students’ eyes,” Ms. Sturdevant says. She has designed and introduced courses such as Colorado history, U.S. women’s history, Native American history, and a nationally-recognized course, American Family History and Genealogy. Ms. Sturdevant has pioneered making courses available on local cable TV and the Internet. She is a nationally-known speaker, as well as an author of two books on how to research family history.

Ms. Sturdevant has received numerous awards and honors, including the Pikes Peak Community College (PPCC) Faculty Member of the Year in 2004, three student nominations for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, two listings in Who’s Who in America, and the Apple Core Award as “Heart and Soul” from the Pikes Peak Education Association. In 2004 she also received the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Award for Teaching Excellence.

Ms. Sturdevant has been president of PPCC Faculty Association, and has had a long history of participation and leadership in the association. She serves as higher education representative to the CEA board of directors, association representative to the PPCC faculty senate, faculty-elected member of the peer review panel, as well as chair of the higher education advisory council.

Ms. Sturdevant obtained a Master and Bachelor of Arts in history from San Francisco State University. She is a doctoral candidate in history from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

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