Vicki S. Gonterman

Gibbs Magnet Elementary School of International Studies and Foreign Languages
Little Rock, AR

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Vicki Gonterman is a third generation social studies teacher who has served as the international studies specialist at Gibbs Elementary for three decades. She helped start Gibbs Magnet elementary school in 1987 and has been able to develop her social studies curriculum over the years. Although she teaches about other cultures, she has found that students must know about their own nation and culture before they learn about others. She believes that all students can learn to appreciate and understand the importance of social studies through embedded life skills and analysis of primary and secondary documents

At the NCSS National Convention in D.C., held in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Gonterman participated in the Outstanding Social Studies Teacher of the Year Panel: How the Outstanding Teachers of the Year Address Social Studies Education in Age Appropriate Ways and Make a Difference in the Classroom. The panel provided an opportunity for those outstanding educators to share how they bring their instruction to the next level and engage students in meaningful learning

Gonterman earned a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Education also at University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has shared her professional knowledge through presentations at National Council for the Social Studies, Arkansas Council for the Social Studies, and with her community through student performances at festivals and teaching workshops. In 2009 Gilder Lehrman awarded her the Gilder Lehrman History Teacher of the Year award for Arkansas, and in 2007 the Arkansas Council for the Social Studies named her K-8 Social Studies Teacher of the Year and the National Council for International Visitors. Awarded her the  Phyllis Layton Perry Educator of the Year Award. Her affiliations include: National Council for the Social Studies, National Peace Corps Association’s Global TeachNet, National Education Association, Arkansas Council for the Social Studies, Arkansas Education Association, Global Association of Teachers of Economics, International Studies Schools Association, and Little Rock Education Association

About Studies Weekl

About the NCSS Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year Award