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Out of over 7,000 nominated educators across the U.S., Matthew Vriesman won the accolade of 2023 National History Teacher of the Year from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Photo of Matthew Vriesman — MSU History Alum Matthew Vriesman

Vriesman, a Missouri State University history alumnus, was honored at a ceremony in New York City on Oct. 24, 2023.

The institute is dedicated to K-12 history education and the award celebrates the value of history education by honoring outstanding American history teachers.

As the 2023 National History Teacher of the Year, Vriesman is currently serving as an ambassador for the teaching community and a thought leader on the importance of high-quality American history education.

According to the institute’s press release, Vriesman stood out for his exceptional teaching of American history, which includes facilitating a historic virtual tour of western Michigan.

“It’s an honor to win this award. My students and I were excited when we received the news,” Vriesman said. “I hope this award serves to normalize an antiracist approach to teaching U.S. history classes.”

Vriesman has been teaching AP United States history, AP world history and AP African American studies at East Kentwood High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for about six years now.

“It’s a diverse school with about 90 different languages spoken, which makes it a cool place to teach history,” said Vriesman, a west Michigan native.

Making his Missouri statement

Influenced by his mother’s love for reading and history, Vriesman never wanted to be anything but a history teacher. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Calvin University in Grand Rapids before travelling to Asia.

After teaching U.S. history in South Korea and Kuwait for about seven years, he began a master’s degree program in history at MSU.

“While searching for what school to attend, I discovered that my favorite history textbook, ‘Ways of the World’ was co-written by a professor at MSU, Dr. Eric Nelson,” Vriesman said. “It influenced my decision to come here.”

Nelson is a professor of world history and the director of graduate studies in the history department. He was also Vriesman’s advisor. [Read more…] about Alum Matthew Vriesman wins National History Teacher of the Year Award

Lt. Annesha Umbarger wasn’t sure what she wanted to do when she left the military.

But a “ride along” with a police unit pointed her toward a career in law enforcement.

“Being a police officer was not always on my radar,” Umbarger said. “All it took was that one day, and I knew at that moment, this is what I wanted to do. I loved the thought of helping people.”

Since then, Umbarger has proved to be a valuable member of the Springfield Police Department. Now a 16-year veteran of the force, Umbarger was promoted to Lieutenant in Nov. 2021, moving from patrol watch commander to supervising criminal investigations.

“As a patrol watch commander, it was my responsibility to oversee the allocation of our resources and deployment of officers in response to incoming calls for service and crime trends,” Umbarger explained. “It was also my responsibility to command critical incidents and major crime scenes.”

Now, a typical day for Umbarger ranges from briefings to monitoring calls for service to, at times, media interviews.