Historical Society names 2024 History Teacher of the Year

The South Dakota State Historical Society has announced that JoAnne Bohl is the 2024 South Dakota History Teacher of the Year. Bohl, of Hartford, has taught history and social studies at West Central High School for 25 years. Among many other achievements, Bohl is being honored for bringing Native American history and culture to the forefront of social studies at West Central School District.

Bohl applied for a Native American studies grant that brought books into classrooms and libraries at West Central School District. She coordinated a professional development seminar for her fellow teachers to learn about the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings.

Dr. Andrew Barron, principal of West Central, wrote of Bohl’s work and its influence at West Central. “This experience has had a lasting impact on our school and school culture as we have incorporated some of the Lakota values into our PBIS program. Later, Ms. Bohl presented at the statewide Civics and History Summit, which took this experience to an even larger audience.”

Barron continued, “This example is just the latest of dozens of times Ms. Bohl contributed to the improvement of South Dakota’s history education. From serving on standards committees to advocating for social studies education, she is a stalwart of civics and history education.”

Bohl will be honored at the annual history conference in Pierre on April 6. Learn more about JoAnne Bohl in the Teacher Feature in this issue.