Vergennes Union High School Teacher to Receive Educator Award

A Vergennes Union High School teacher who has inspired
students for 22 years has been named Vermont's humanities educator of the
year for 2006. The Vermont Humanities Council has chosen Roberta
Steponaitis, a teacher of history and geography, to receive its annual
Victor R. Swenson Humanities Educator Award. The award is the fourth given
out by VHC since inaugurating the award in 2003.
"Roberta Steponaitis is the teacher they [students] will remember when they
think back to their high school days, as having made a pivotal difference in
their lives," said Dr. Carol Spencer, Director of Curriculum and Staff
Development of the Addison Northwest Supervisory Union, in her nomination
letter. "She touches the lives of the students she meets in a personal and
influential way."
Vermont Humanities Council Chair Melissa Hersh will present the award at
VHC's Fall Conference, "Setting as Character: Vermont's Landscape, Stories,
and Sense of Place," November 4 at the Killington Grand Hotel in Killington.
The ceremony will take place at 8:30 a.m. and will include a presentation of
a $1,000 check to Ms. Steponaitis.
VHC created the award to recognize a Vermont educator on an annual basis and
to honor Victor R. Swenson, the Council's first executive director. The
award is given to a Vermont educator in grades 6 through 12 who exemplifies
excellence in the teaching of the humanities.
Steponaitis has taught at Vergennes Union High School since 1984. During
those 22 years, she has taught at the middle and high school levels,
offering courses in US History, global religions, world cultures, civics,
and current events.
She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Vermont in 1982
and her Masters of Education from the University of Phoenix in Arizona in
2005. She will complete her PhD at the University of Phoenix in 2008.
Says Spencer, "I believe that the spirit of inquiry that she fosters in her
students clearly represents the spirit that the Victor Swenson Humanities
Educator Award celebrates."
Steponaitis encourages her students to use primary resources to investigate
the lives of historical people. She founded the Otter Creek Basin Student
History Club to encourage passion about local, state, and national history
in her students. And she takes her students to museums and reenactments
throughout the region. Her students have earned many local, state, and
national awards.
"Ms. Steponaitis's . . . commitment to bringing history alive for her
students has given two generations of students a stronger sense of belonging
to a place in history," notes Spencer. "She helps students to become
scholars. . . . She inspires students to aspire more highly in their lives.
She reaches out and taps them on the shoulder and says, 'you would be good
at this history project. Come on. Give it a try.' For so many kids, that is
all it takes to get them involved, and to help them make a commitment to
deeper engagement in their schooling."
For more information about the award, contact the Vermont Humanities Council
at [email protected] or 802.262.2626, or visit
www.vermonthumanities.org.
The Vermont Humanities Council is a private nonprofit working to bring the
power and the pleasure of the humanities to all Vermonters - of every
background and in every community. The Council envisions a state in which
every individual learns throughout life - a state in which all its citizens
read, reflect, and participate in public affairs.