Educator of the Year Nomination
Mr. Robert Lingenfelter

Mr. Lingenfelter is an 8th grade Social Studies teacher at Skyline Middle School. He graduated with his Masters in Education in 2000 from Wilmington College. He has been nominated for Teacher of the Year many of times his teaching career. He was the 2010 recipient of “National History Teacher of the Year”, he was a 2012 finalist of the “Superstars in Education”, and he received the 2012 Award for Excellence. Mr. Lingenfelter also has some government ties as he has been a staff photographer for Senator Tom Carper since 1982.

Mr. Lingenfelter really gets to know his students; he gets down to the kid’s level, and everyone enjoys his class. He made us make a time capsule where we put dated items in a box. We included our school pictures, a note with what we thought our future would be like, who our friends were, and some personal items. We wrote our names, phone numbers, and our address on a card with our time capsule. The plan is in 10 years, Mr. Lingenfelter will pull out the time capsules and try to contact all of us and have us to his house as part of a reunion. Mr. Lingenfelter is one of my friends on Facebook, and we still keep in touch to this day.

Mr. Lingenfelter went above and beyond with our field trips in 8th grade. My favorite field trip was when we went to Washington DC, and because of his government ties, he was able to get us into the Capital building. We went underground and took the tram car to the other side so we could see everything. We were also able to get in front of the White House. He even took us to Arlington National Cemetery and we watched the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was the best field trip I have ever had in all of my school years and one I will never forget.

Mr. Lingenfelter was an all-hands-on kind of teacher. We did most of our projects in the classroom. When we studied the Bill of Rights, he gave us roles that each of us had to play to understand the process of how a bill is passed. We had a lunch meeting to sign a fake Constitution by candle light. Mr. Lingenfelter turned the classroom into a court room when we learned about the Salem Witch Trials, again we all had a role to play. When we studied J.F.K. during the 4th marking period, we watched a movie, researched all the theories of who shot J.F.K., and then we had to write a final essay on who we thought shot J.F.K. with supporting facts behind our thoughts.

Mr. Lingenfelter is by far the best teacher I have ever had. He made our classes interesting and fun, but at the same time we learned so much more by acting out the events. This short essay is just a tiny piece of how Mr. Lingenfelter is able to connect with his students. He wasn’t just our social studies teacher he was a friend and a person we could talk to, and most importantly someone that we respected. Hands down, Mr. Lingenfelter deserves the Award of Educator of the Year! ...again