If you ever sent a child to W.R. McNeill Elementary, they probably came back talking about Sarah Wilder.

History teacher, veterans advocate and a favorite among students and teachers alike, Wilder recently received the 2023 Kentucky History Teacher of the Year award from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

“When I sit and think about it, it’s a great honor, but it’s also so humbling,” Wilder said. “I realize I would not be here without my faith, my family, some exceptional mentors along the way, some of my colleagues and most importantly, my students.”

Wilder came to Bowling Green from Oldham County nearly 17 years ago and has taught at McNeill ever since. It was an intimidating move, but getting to teach social studies to 5th graders quickly made it feel like home.

After spending the school day surrounded by kids, she would return home to her husband and three boys – Deklan, 19; Keegan, 14, and Lochlan, 9.

A typical lesson in Wilder’s class usually involves some kind of hands-on, self-guided instruction. One that students seem to remember for years involves a literal game of tug of war with a few twists.

“They start out thinking it’s just going to be this fun tug of war,” Wilder said. “I divide them into three different teams. One of the teams consists of the taller, bigger, larger students. Then the second team is all of the smaller students, and then the third team is your average-size students.”

Students quickly notice the imbalance – surely the larger, stronger team will prevail. However, Wilder slowly introduces more rules that inevitably shift power to the smaller team.

When it’s all said and done, students are asked to reflect on how the lesson might represent moments in history, such as the American Revolution. She asks the students to imagine the larger team as the British Empire and the smaller team as American Continental Army.

“After both teams settle down – because you can imagine it gets pretty exciting – we actually talk and make those important connections to which side represented which part,” Wilder said.

All in all, Wilder seeks out activities that will both capture the attention of students and force them to make their own considerations and epiphanies. She wants to show students that “history is not one of those boring subjects.”

“You can bring it to life, like in these activities where students can make these meaningful connections,” Wilder said. “Years after they leave my classroom, it’s still one of their highlights. They not only remember the tug of war game, they’re able to tell me the actual connections.”

Wilder said her experience with the Teaching American History Grant, which took her to Colonial Williamsburg 14 years ago, played a vital role in her appreciation for immersive learning. She also credits Jana Kirchner, a local educator and coordinator for the TAH Grant.

“She has worked in several different roles in Bowling Green over the years, she was truly amazing,” Wilder said. “She was one of the first people that, before the new standards came out, started teaching teacher leaders throughout the region about inquiry-based learning, and that’s where you don’t just read a text and answer questions and memorize dates.”

Inquiry-based learning, in short, focuses on how students reach a given topic rather than simply giving them information. Wilder says she wants kids to think critically, not just follow her direction.

She pointed to a row of packets carefully laid on the floor of her classroom in preparation for a lesson. Each contained direct accounts and imagery that explore what life was like for a Powhatan person in the 1600s.

“You aren’t telling the students information, they’re having to actually dig through artifacts and their primary sources, which history is all about,” Wilder said.

But history is far from Wilder’s only passion.

Wilder has had five family members serve in the military, including her younger brother, Bradley Buckman. He served three tours in the National Guard during the Iraq War.

Buckman survived a roadside bomb during his third tour. He returned home with a hand full of shrapnel, hearing damage and trauma that few people can imagine. Wilder still tears up at the thought of it.

Wilder wants her students to see the sacrifices that people like her brother have made for their freedom. Fostering civic engagement, she said, feels like her responsibility as a social studies teacher.

“While our country, of course, is not perfect, I want to try to inspire students to make it a more perfect union,” Wilder said. “It’s not a perfect union, but they can work to make it a one by being compassionate, by trying to be responsible citizens, by being engaged citizens.”

She began the “We the People” club at McNeill to further that mission. For the last 10 years, the club has put on an annual Veterans Day presentation made by students.

One year, she and her students made Christmas cards to pass out to veterans at the local clinic. She went with her middle child, Keegan, to hand them out personally. A man with a Vietnam veteran hat approached them and asked about his card, tears welling in his eyes.

“And he said, ‘This means so much to me, I thought people had forgotten about us and what all we had done,’ ” Wilder said. “He’s probably in his 70s, this grown man crying, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, something that small can help.’ ”

She always reminds her students how much a simple card meant to that stranger in need.

“You can’t vote until you’re 18, you can’t do some of these other civic responsibilities and duties that you will have as a citizen, but these are ways that as an involved citizen, you can make a difference in our community,” Wilder said.

Emily Mills, principal of McNeill, began as a general first-grade teacher around the time Wilder was hired. She quickly saw Wilder as someone who she could learn from.

“She just exudes what you want a history teacher to be,” Mills said. “She makes it come alive for the kids. She’s excited – I’ve never seen someone so excited about history.”

Wilder has many accomplishments to be proud of, Mills said, but she shines the brightest in regular, everyday work.

“What’s most impressive to me is hearing the kids speak the way they are excited to be in her class, the way they love her,” Mills said. “And honestly, the way they want to impress her – they want to do well, and they want to learn. That’s because of what she puts into them.”

Mills said her dedication to civic engagement and veteran outreach helps foster a shared identity among students. That community-mindedness is infectious and even extends to students beyond Wilder’s class.

In an elementary school, Mills said it’s common to see social studies take a back seat to basic subjects like reading and math.

“But Sarah has emphasized with us over and over the importance of social studies, the importance of history, so much so that we started when they were 5 years old, and that has really made a difference in our school,” Mills said.

Mills said if it weren’t for a press release, she probably would have never heard of Wilder’s award. Wilder is simply not the type to brag – though she very well could.

“Sarah is one of those people that will fly under the radar,” Mills said. “And then, when you walk into her classroom, it’s an amazing experience – and it’s an amazing experience as an adult, so I can only imagine how it would feel to a child in her classroom.”

As one of 53 national finalists, Wilder will receive a $1,000 honorarium, as well as a core archive of American history books and Gilder Lehrman educational materials.

As she prepares to begin her 17th school year at McNeill, she hasn’t had the time to nail down how the money will be spent. However, she said it’ll go a long way in enriching the education of her students.

“I’m still constantly trying to continually refine my practice and get better, but I wouldn’t be able to do any of this if I didn’t work in the district that I do and have all of those supportive administrators,” Wilder said.