North Hills Middle School educator Joe Welch has been
selected as a finalist for 2020 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. He is one of
12 finalists from across the commonwealth and the only finalist from Allegheny
County. The Pennsylvania Department of Education will announce the 2020
Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year in a special awards ceremony in December.Welch, a Grade 8 social studies teacher, was chosen due to
his dedication and commitment to providing his students with the highest
quality education and his contributions to public education. He was nominated
for the award by fellow middle school teacher Larry Dorenkamp and North Hills
parent Carlene Bensch.
His selection as a state finalist follows Welch being named
National History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of
American History earlier this school year.
In his classroom, Welch is known for creative and innovative
projects that bring American history alive for his students. His philosophy for teaching history, which
was included in the application process, is based on students creating stories
and publishing content. His students have the opportunity to create animated videos,
remix songs to analyze an era of American history, create illustrated
children’s books to explain primary sources, intertwine augmented reality to
create gallery walks of presidential administrations, all while integrating the
resources afforded by North Hills’ Project Connect 1:1 iPad initiative.
Welch’s students were recognized in 2017 for their Building
Bridges: Oral History to Connect Communities and Generations project. Welch,
along with middle school English teacher Vicki Truchan, oversaw the student
publishing of four volumes of community oral history narratives and student
analysis that are now available for free on iBooks. This project was recognized
with the Association for Middle Level Education National Community Engagement
Award in 2017. Recently, Mr. Welch has
been instrumental in launching the National History Day program at North Hills.
In conjunction with fellow social studies teacher Larry Dorenkamp, he hosted a
community Vietnam War event in cooperation with WQED and PBS, sparking student
interest in POW research and a special screening of Ken Burns’ documentary “The
Vietnam War.”
In addition to this honor, Welch also is an Apple
Distinguished Educator (ADE) and lead PBS Digital Innovator for Pennsylvania.
As an ADE, he is part of a global community of education leaders recognized
their work with Apple technology in and out of the classroom, who advise Apple
on integrating technology as well as serving as content creators for
Apple.
Welch is a recognized presenter who has shared his expertise
and knowledge with other educators at various state and national education
events. He has presented at the International Society for Technology in
Education (ISTE) conference on multiple occasions, the National Council for the
Social Studies annual conference and the Association for Middle Level Education
national conference in addition to state conferences including the AIU’s Social
Studies Symposium and Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo and Conference.