Neil Oatsvall, a teacher at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs, has been named the 2020 Arkansas History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Oatsvall is the chairman of the Humanities and Fine Arts Department at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, which is a two-year residential high school for academically and artistically motivated students. He teaches history and social sciences.
The University of Alabama Press has a book manuscript advanced contract with Oatsvall, whose writing has appeared in publications such as Agricultural History, Environment and History, and Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History will award Oatsvall $1,000. His school will receive a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials.
The Gilder Lehrman institute, which promotes American history through educational programs and resources, honors one kindergarten-through-12th-grade teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools and U.S. territories each year.
One of these winners will be named the 2020 National History Teacher of the Year in the fall.