'Doing history': Maconaquah High School teacher named Indiana History Teacher of the Year

Aug. 13—BUNKER HILL — Students in Kari Catanzaro's U.S. history class watch war movies.

The objective?

Determine "what's Hollywood and what's real."

Students learn how to research using primary sources — materials produced during the historical time period being studied — such as Civil War-era newspapers.

Research will lead students to learn, for example, that Mel Gibson's character Benjamin Martin in "The Patriot" is actually a composite character made up of at least four different Revolutionary War figures.

Catanzaro calls this "doing history," and it's one of the main ways the teacher gets students engaged in the content.

"History is boring if you don't do it," she said. "You can always Google the facts and dates."

Students in her dual-credit US history class at Maconaquah High School choose a Civil War movie to watch and analyze for their final project. "Voice and choice" is another way Catanzaro keeps her students interested.

"I've never had a kid not do the project," she said.

The lesson plan is an award-winning one.

Catanzaro was named the Gilder Lehrman Institute's Indiana History Teacher of the Year. The institute is a nonprofit that promotes American history through education.

"I think I read it (email) seven times to make sure it was what I thought it was," Catanzaro said.

Catanzaro is one of 53 teachers of the year. Gilder Lehrman names one for each state, plus one from the District of Colombia, Department of Defense schools and one from US territories.

"That really got me," she said. "That's when I realized it was a big deal."

Catanzaro has been at Maconaquah for her entire 28-year career. She started at the middle school, teaching Spanish for the first 14 years.

Catanzaro eventually moved up to the high school where she teaches US history, Indiana history and ethnic studies.

"This is my dream job," she said. "I love it."

Matthew Barnett, a history teacher at Maconaquah Middle School, nominated Catanzaro for the award.

"She does a lot of out-of-the-box stuff," he said.

Barnett knows a thing or two out-of-the-box lesson plans as his eighth grade class has built a 1700s cannon and learned 1800s survival skills by carving wood with a lathe and spinning wool.

"Her lesson was so creative, and it went deeper than a regular lesson," Barnett said of Catanzaro's Civil War movie analysis project.

"She finds these neat, innovative ways to hook kids into the content," added Jennifer Lorona, who also teaches at Maconaquah High School. "She loves those lightbulb moments with kids."

Such as the speakeasy Catanzaro does when covering the Prohibition era. She dresses up as a flapper, students drink mock cocktails and a code word is needed to enter class.

Hint: it's always "Boiler up." Catanzaro is a big Purdue fan.

"If they can act out the time period, I think it really resonates with them," Lorona said. "She kinda opened my eyes to what you can do in a classroom."

It makes Catanzaro a popular teacher among students. High school principal Justin Myers said it's just as much Catanzaro as it is the subject area that makes kids drawn to her classes.

"She's kinda magnetic and has this positive energy about her," he said. "Those are the kind of people you want on your bus."

Catanzaro has been immersed in history for as long as she can remember. She grew up in her family's 1848 farm house. By fourth grade, she knew she wanted to be a teacher.

"I lived in a world where history was still happening," Catanzaro said.

Genealogy is a true passion. She's traced one side of her family back to the 1400s. An ancestor of hers marched with Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. Known as Sherman's March to the Sea, the military offensive helped lead to the Confederacy's eventual defeat.

Catanzaro enjoys teaching the 1960s, but her favorite time period changes. The history classes she took as a student only went up to the Vietnam War. She's had to learn the more recent decades herself.

"It makes you understand how we got the way we are," Catanzaro said.

Current events keep class interesting. Catanzaro said students have more of an interest in Watergate now due to President Donald Trump's impeachments. The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial has sparked newfound interest in Senate hearings.

And of course, all current events, tie back into history somehow.

"It's been easy to teach the last few years," Catanzaro said.

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.