Rigby teacher receives National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship

RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI) - The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation announced a teacher at Rigby High School has been accepted to participate in its workshop for educators sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Kerry Thomas is one of 72 educators selected from a group of more than 270 applicants.

Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and the Japanese American Incarceration will teach educators about the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans, two-thirds of them U.S. citizens, at a series of 10 camps across the country, including at Heart Mountain in northwestern Wyoming.

The educators will spend six days learning about the Japanese experience in the United States, the racism and prejudice faced by the immigrants, how their paths intersected with Wyoming's Native American communities and the multigenerational mental health trauma that many members of the incarcerees' families still suffer today.

Thomas will receive a $1,300 stipend to cover his travel and lodging costs.