The Life Guard Teacher Fellowship Program supports the creation of classroom materials and teacher resources about the life, legacy, and leadership of George Washington. Fellows live and study at the Washington Library on the grounds of Mount Vernon as they work to create educational resources that meet 21st-century classroom needs.
Learn More About Our Teacher Fellowship Program
Kim Greer
Kim will create an inquiry-driven lesson that asks students to answer the question “Did Martha Washington Influence the Revolutionary War?” In this lesson, students will explore multiple supporting questions to help them prepare for a class debate.
She teaches 7th and 8th grade at Nevada Middle School in Nevada, Missouri. She is the sponsor of the Girl Empowerment Club, a co-sponsor of the Honors Club, and helps provide professional development to district staff. Kim has presented at the Missouri Council for Social Studies, and is a former Teacher Fellow for the Korean War Legacy Foundation. She is also an alumna of the Mount Vernon Teacher Institute where she took part in the inaugural week of Slavery in George Washington’s World.
Shannon Lubold
Shannon will create a mini-unit for high school classrooms that compares slavery in 18th century Virginia with serfdom during the rules of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. Through the use of inquiry-based and critical thinking lessons, students will be able to evaluate the political economies of slavery and serfdom.
Lubold teaches 9th grade American Government, 10th grade AP World History, and Juvenile Justice at Owings Mills High School in Owings Mills Maryland. She also serves as the Model UN adviser and Rho Kappa Adviser. Shannon is an alumna of the Mount Vernon Teacher Institute and numerous National Endowment for the Humanities seminars. Shannon co-presented the “Teaching Slavery Comprehensively and Conscientiously” session at the 2018 American Historical Association conference in Washington, DC.
Sara Olds
Sara will create a lesson plan with supporting materials investigating Washington’s surveys for use in the middle school and high school history and geography classrooms. Encouraging primary source assessment, students will compare and contrast the surveys with modern maps and satellite imagery. Olds will be examining all layers of Washington’s surveys from the purpose of creation to audience.
She teaches U.S. History and Geography at Syracuse Arts Academy in Syracuse, Utah. In 2014 she was named Utah History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History in and in 2013 she was awarded the Utah Jr. High Teacher of the Year by the Veterans of Foreign War. She has been selected to attend numerous National Endowment for the Humanities summer workshops and was honored to have a student win the Gilder Lehrman Civil War Essay contest this year.
Robin Pulido
Robin plans to utilize digital resources and tools to create interactive activities for students to explore, analyze, and understand the relationship between religion, slavery, and abolition during Washington’s time
She currently teaches eighth grade U.S. history, K-8 technology, and coaches the grades 6-8 Academic Decathlon at St. Rose of Lima School in Chula Vista, California. She is an alumna of the George Washington Teacher Institute, Monticello’s Barringer Fellowship, the Society of the Cincinnati American Revolution Master Teachers Program, and has attended numerous Landmark seminars hosted by the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has been a speaker at San Diego CUE Tech Fairs, CUE (Computer Using Educators) National Conferences, and the California Council for Social Studies Conference.
Valerie Shull
Val will create a lesson plan to help students understand the values of George Washington’s leadership, the values the Lakota people live by, and the connections between the two. Students will then be able to identify how they mirror those values and traits within themselves.
She is a 23 year veteran of the Douglas School District in Box Elder, South Dakota. She has worked extensively with her state’s Social Studies curriculum and standards work groups, and on the development team for the South Dakota State Lakota standards, Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings. She has presented at multiple conferences, including the National Middle School Association, National Council for the Social Studies, Indian Education Summit, and EdmodoCon. Val also provides professional development for building and district staff and schools throughout her state. She was part of the lesson and material development team for Constitution Day with the Mount Vernon Education Team and is an alumna of the George Washington Teacher Institute.
Reese Teacher Fellowship
This fellowship is awarded to a teacher who will connect high school students with print and handwritten primary sources to increase student engagement with 18th-century sources.
Lindsey Charron
Lindsey will create educational materials to support Mount Vernon’s online Virtual Tour to help encourage deeper student analysis of the objects at Mount Vernon and the role they played in George Washington’s life. Materials will also support students in learning more about Washington’s role as general, president, and farmer.
She has taught U.S. history at the middle school level for the past fourteen years. She currently teaches U.S. history and student leadership and government at Ensign Intermediate School in Newport Beach, CA, where she is also the activity director. Lindsey was selected as a James Madison Fellow in 2013 and is finishing her second master’s degree in history. Lindsey is very passionate about teaching with primary sources and utilizing technology in the class, and she has presented at the National Council for Social Studies and California Council for Social Studies multiple times. She is an alumna of the George Washington Teacher Institute and Monticello’s Barringer Fellowship and has attended many Gilder Lehrman and NEH seminars. Additionally, Lindsey serves as a National Oratory Fellow with Ford’s Theatre and a Master Teacher with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.