Lawyers Alliance names Blackfoot educator Teacher of the Year

Blackfoot High School teacher Holly Kartchner has been named “Teacher of the Year” by the American Lawyers Alliance.

The Alliance is a charitable group whose mission is to promote understanding and appreciation of the law and the American legal system.

For the past nine years Kartchner’s students have won the state’s “We the People: the Citizen and the Constitution” course and competition, and traveled on to the national competition in Washington, D.C. In 2015, the team received the Region Award for the Western States and was ranked in the top 15 in the nation. This is the highest award ever received by an Idaho school.

“It is really important that we recognize students and educators for developing young people to be contributing members of society and to increase their knowledge of our constitutional democracy in order to maintain our system of government,” Kartchner said.

Kartchner received her Master of Arts degree in political science and U.S. history degree from Idaho State University in 2009. She currently teaches government and history at Blackfoot High School.