[Mr.] Hoggatt, a teacher at Cecil Floyd Elementary School in Joplin, has been named the 2021 Missouri History Teacher of the Year, an award presented annually by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the nation's leading organization dedicated to K-12 American history education.
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In 2021, parents, students, teachers, and administrators nationwide nominated a record 8,510 teachers for the History Teacher of the Year Award. Amidst a very competitive field, [Mr.] Hoggatt rose to the top in Missouri.

Inaugurated in 2004, the History Teacher of the Year Award highlights the crucial importance of history education by honoring exceptional American history teachers from elementary school through high school. The award honors one K-12 teacher from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools and US Territories. In fall 2021, the National History Teacher of the Year will be selected from the pool of state winners.

[Mr.] Hoggatt received two bachelor’s degrees at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and his master’s degree in teaching from Pittsburg State University. Now in his 32nd year as an educator, Hoggatt’s passion for history, combined with his unique style of connecting with children, and his students have reaped the benefits. He creates a classroom atmosphere in which history is directly correlated to students’ lives through hands-on projects, connections with standards in other subjects, and lively, relevant conversations over primary sources. When students leave his classroom they have not only learned valuable information, they have a shared passion for early American history.

In addition to a $1,000 honorarium, Cecil Floyd Elementary will receive a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials and recognition at a ceremony in Missouri.

River Navigation Through a series of locks and dams, the Mississippi River is now more easily navigable by large barges and other watercraft.  The Melvin Price Locks and Dam is a facility that is open to the public.  A family's time is well-spent at the indoor interpretive center which highlights the engineering of the system, as well as the wildlife that relies on the river ecosystem. How is the current system different from how the natives and early explorers and settlers navigated this great river? Why are locks and dams necessary on a large river such as the Mississippi?

Ste. Genevieve Outside of Mississippian and Native American cultures, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, is the earliest permanent settlement west of the Mississippi River.  Founded in 1735 by French-Canadian colonists, St. Genevieve still has buildings that date back to the 18th century. Through the centuries, the town has gone from being a French colony, to Spain, and back to France before finally being acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 (but that's for a lesson to come much later in our school year). Poteaux en Terre The historic structures in Ste. Genevieve have withstood the test of time, but they also display different architectural styles than the structures being built by the British colonists and pioneers.  Says Wikipedia: The oldest buildings of Ste. Genevieve, described as "French Creole colonial", were all built during Spanish rule of the late 18th century. The most distinctive buildings of this period were the "vertical wooden post" constructions where walls of buildings were built based on wood "posts" either dug into the ground (poteaux en terre) or set on a raised stone or brick foundation (poteaux sur solle). This was different from the log cabin style associated with the Anglo-American frontier settlements of the United States northeast, mid-Atlantic and Upper South, for which logs are stacked horizontally.

We will fall far short of recreating these buildings on school property, so let's settle for a simple re-creation in the classroom.  First, we need to gather some straight sticks of the correct width and length, so let's head out to the nature area behind the school with our rulers.  Afterward, we will arrange our collection to make our own vertical-log buildings (albeit two-dimensional).

Fort de Chartres

Fleur De Lis

Look at the images on the right.  How about a little art project with this symbol of France?  It's called a fleur de lis.  Fleur and lis are French for flower and lily.  Can you see the resemblance? The teacher will provide templates for you to decorate your own fleur de lis to display.

1. Life is not fair. Get used to it.
2. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. 
3. The real world will not care as much about your self-esteem as your school does. This may come as a shock.
4. You will not make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You will not be a vice president, and you may even have to wear a uniform that does not have a designer label.
5. Flipping hamburgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for flipping burgers. They called it opportunity.
6. It is not your parents’ fault if you mess up.
7. Before you were born your parents were not boring. They got that way paying bills.
8. Life is not divided into semesters. You do not get summers off, and you do not get a summer break.
9. Vaping does not make you look cool.
10. Your school may be “outcome-based,” but life isn’t.