Learning: DisneyHand Teacher Awards: The 2004 Honorees
Aimee L. Young
High School: Humanities - English (10th grade), English/US & World History, Holocaust Studies, Creative Writing (11th & 12th grade)

Aimee L. Young
Loudonville High School
Loudonville, OH

"Room 110 contains your basic classroom "stuff": chalkboards, desks, windows, technology-you know, typical. And then there's what gives the room personality: a map of Nazi-Occupied Europe, a brilliant collection of Hallmark cards my sister created, a poster of Northern Hemisphere constellations, death camp photos from my trip to Poland, student and family photos, and oh, yes, my Ricky Martin poster collection. It's a terrifically eclectic assortment for someone who teaches 10th, 11th, and 12th graders, isn't it? My room is real though, and it's about me-a place where I want to be; and if the number of students coming through my door at any given time of day is an indication, it's where they want to be, too. My room is simple, serious, thoughtful, and organized, yet intriguing, laid-back, fun, and dreamy-like me and the way I teach."

-- Aimee

"A teacher can captivate her class and lead them to discoveries never dreamed possible; tightly held prejudices can melt away and paths can be illuminated with knowledge and confidence. A teacher can be incredibly powerful in rescuing and shaping disheartened and disillusioned young lives. A teacher can put a sparkle in an eye and a smile on a face. A teacher can shape tomorrow and make it better. Aimee Young is such a teacher."

-- Ben Blubaugh, Principal

Students soon find out that no undying passion for literature or writing inspires Aimee to teach; it's a love for teaching itself. That devotion allows her to put herself in their desks to consider what she would want to learn, how she would want to learn about it, and why it is significant to her; considering students' viewpoints and feelings to frame Aimee's teaching can still be done within the perimeters of state curriculums or district improvement plans. Once she engages them as learners, their ownership is inevitable, and their understanding is ultimate.

Other Highlights:

  • Advisor of high school drill team, third year
  • Member of district's Local Professional Development Committee, third year
  • District mentor teacher
  • Presenter/facilitator for: The Belfer National Conference for teachers, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, June 2003 and 2004; The Second Annual Northern California Forum on Holocaust Education, USHMM, March 2004; The National Council of Teachers of English panel presenter on partnering with museums to help teach, 2003 annual convention in San Francisco; various community organizations, such as the Loudonville Public Library, Lion's Club, Rotary Club, Progressive Women's Club, Loudonville-Perrysville School Board, and staff in-services, 1998-current.
  • Recipient of Ashland County Community Foundation mini-grant to bring Holocaust survivor from the USHMM's Speaker's Bureau to Loudonville, OH, March 2004
  • Recipient of Belfer Exemplary Lessons Initiative award (USHMM) for a lesson on pre-WWII European Jewish life, February 2003; the lesson is currently up on the website for access, was filmed in the classroom to be included, and will be in print form this spring (http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/prodev/beli/2003/)
  • Named to Ohio Council on Holocaust Education curriculum advisory board, 2002
  • Mandel Teacher Fellow, USHMM, 2001-2002
  • Former advisor to the high school's award-winning newspaper, The Redbird, ten years
  • Participant/graduate of the Jewish Labor Committee's Summer Seminar in Poland and Israel: Yad Vashem and the Ghetto Fighters' House, July 1998
  • Developed a Holocaust studies elective; curriculum is based on the Ohio model, Prejudice Unleashed