Seventh Annual Mount Vernon History Teacher of the Year Award Won by DC Teacher

For Immediate Release
July 18, 2012

Media Contact:
Melissa Wood (703) 799-5203
mwood@mountvernon.org

Seventh Annual Mount Vernon History Teacher of the Year Award Won by DC Teacher

MOUNT VERNON, VA. – The seventh annual Mount Vernon History Teacher of the Year award was given to Brian Rohal, a social studies teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy in Washington, D.C. Rohal was awarded $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid field trip to Mount Vernon for his students at Thurgood Marshall Academy. The award, supported by an endowment established by the Robertson Foundation, honors excellence in history education.  Any teacher in the Washington, D.C., area who teaches American History in grades 3-12, and who has at least two years of teaching experience, is eligible to apply.

“Brian Rohal was the unanimous choice of our selection committee who felt that his teaching exemplifies dedication, creativity, and character,” said Nancy Hayward, acting vice president for education at Mount Vernon.

Rohal is the first teacher from the Washington, D.C. to win the Mount Vernon’s History Teacher of the Year award.  His students account for approximately one third of all African-American students in the district’s public schools who have passed the AP US History exam. Rohal is a graduate of Duke University Law School, practicing law before moving in to the education field. In his first annual address to Congress in 1790, George Washington stated: “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.” In his will, he left money for a number of schools and outlined his hopes for a national university.

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Events, programs, and activities are subject to change.
Public Information: 703-780-2000; 703-799-8697 (TDD); www.MountVernon.org

Since 1860, more than 80 million visitors have made George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens the most popular historic home in America.  Through thought-provoking tours, entertaining events, and stimulating educational programs on the Estate and in classrooms across the nation, Mount Vernon strives to preserve George Washington’s place in history as “First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen.”  Mount Vernon is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, America’s oldest national preservation organization, founded in 1853.  A picturesque drive to the southern end of the scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway, Mount Vernon is located just 16 miles from the nation’s capital.

Hours of operation: April-August, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; March, September, October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; November – February, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Regular admission rates: adults, $15.00; senior citizens, $14.00; children age 6-11, when accompanied by an adult, $7.00; and children under age 5, FREE.  Admission fees, restaurant and retail proceeds, along with private donations, support the operation and restoration of Mount Vernon.