Social studies teacher Jared Schultz recently won the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation Award for the state of Kansas. It is a prestigious award given to one social studies teacher in each state.
“This [award] is … recognized as the top national award for history and government, social studies teachers, to go out and be recognized,” Schultz said. “So, I was Kansas’s representative for this year.”
Schultz said he learned early on in his career about this award.
“I heard about it all the way back in like 2016, when I was maybe [in] my second or third year of college,” Schultz said. “I was at a Kansas Council for the social studies meeting, and they had someone there, and they had just been named the James Madison fellow. I’m like, ‘That sounds lit, I’m going to apply for that in like nine years,’” Schultz said.
Senior Sophia Shannon had Schultz as her AP US History teacher in her junior year. She said he deserved this award for the impact he has had on the school.
“If you look at him, you can tell how much he cares about what he does,” Shannon said. “He does a really good job at teaching. He walks around and makes it very interactive.”
With this award also comes the opportunity to further attend graduate school to obtain another degree.
“It [comes with a] $24,000 fellowship to be able to go and study something in American history or government,” Schultz said. “I’m going to go and get a master’s of arts in American history and government, so this will be my fourth degree.”
With this award, it brings new opportunities for Schultz throughout his career.
“He works hard for what he does, and when these [opportunities] come around, he deserves to go and get what he wants,” Shannon said.
Along with gaining the award, Schultz also said this was an influential learning experience for him.
“I’ve known about it for a decade, and I’ve been wanting to do it. I tried once, I didn’t get it, I tried again [and] got it,” Schultz said. “Don’t let your dreams be dreams. Yesterday, you said tomorrow, so just do it.”
