Tiverton and Dedham teachers receive national recognition, awarded $5,000 prize

The Jack Miller Center has announced the Teaching America250 Awards thanks to generous support from Carnegie Corporation of New York.

The Teaching America250 Awards will allow 51 teachers across the country to develop and implement engaging educational projects focused on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

JMC has awarded one teacher in each state and Washington, D.C. with a $5,000 prize to execute a project of his or her own design to teach the Declaration of Independence and celebrate its 250th anniversary with their students, school, or broader community. Proposed projects include field trips to a historic or cultural landmark, inviting guest speakers for a school-wide panel, and hosting an educational Declaration contest.

Among the winners was Tiverton teacher Christine Costa.

Costa is a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Tiverton Middle School in Tiverton, Rhode Island, where she has devoted nearly three decades to teaching. As the social studies coordinator, she is a passionate advocate for civics education, creating engaging learning experiences for students through mock elections, local voter turnout campaigns, National History Day, Civic Learning Week, Law Day, and the National Civics Bee. Her commitment to fostering civic understanding also extends beyond the classroom; Christine served as a community partner for the inaugural Rhode Island Civic Health Index and is the Tiverton Mock Trial Advisor for both the middle and high school teams. Additionally, Christine is a member of the iCivics Educator Network, serves on the Tiverton Semi-quincentennial Commission, and was named the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s 2023 Rhode Island History Teacher of the Year. She resides in Tiverton with her husband, Robert, and their three adult sons, and is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in American history from Gettysburg College.

Project Description: Students will participate in a number of events linking themselves to the actions of colonists 250 years ago, including a reading of the Declaration outside Newport’s Colony House, a planting of a Liberty Tree, and a trip to the Rhode Island Supreme Court and State Archives.

The Massachusetts winner is William Donovan from Dedham.

Donovan is a middle and high school U.S. history teacher at Ursuline Academy in Dedham, Massachusetts, where he has taught since 2011. Will has 25 years of teaching experience at the middle school, high school, and college levels. He currently teaches juniors either AP U.S. History or honors-level U.S. history as well as a section of eighth graders. He enjoys participating in professional development opportunities which enhance his content knowledge and enrich students’ learning experiences, like the Jack Miller Center’s American Civic Tradition Fellowship, which heightened his understanding of America’s founding principles. Recently, Will completed the 2025 Swensrud Teacher Fellowship at the Massachusetts Historical Society, during which he curated primary sources about the rise of nativism and the Know Nothing Party in the 1850s for use by educators.

Project Description: Through field trips to the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Adams’ National Historic Park, students will have hands-on interactions with primary sources led by guest speakers, culminating in the production of multiple “breaking news” segments highlighting the relevance of the Declaration during specific points in American history.