Submitted photo Cannon Falls High School social studies teacher Heather Loeschke, native of Sleepy Eye, receives the 2022-2023 Minnesota Citizenship Education Teacher Award at the Marriott in Brooklyn Park Saturday.

CANNON FALLS — Cannon Falls Middle/High School social studies teacher Heather Loeschke was named the District 1 and State of Minnesota VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year at the Marriott in Brooklyn Park Saturday.

A 1992 Sleepy Eye High School graduate and the daughter of Don and Bev Mickelson of Sleepy Eye, Loeschke will represent Minnesota in national competition.

“It’s always an honor to be recognized for one’s work,” Loeschke said. “But, I’m especially proud to be honored by the VFW organization. I love working with veterans. They are a wonderful group of men and women. I equally enjoy teaching my students about citizenship and patriotism.”

Contest criteria focuses on how a teacher promotes citizenship, classroom ingenuity and how they better themselves as a teacher. The award is meant for teachers who promote civic responsibility, flag etiquette and patriotism.

Loeschke said while teaching, she meshed civics and history together and continues to learn how to reach students and make history and government lessons meaningful to them.

Last summer, Loeschke completed two programs designed to improve the teaching of history and social studies.

She received an American history immersion experience at the Bob and Marion Wilson Teacher Institute in Williamsburg, Va. At the event, teachers can exchange ideas with historians, meet character interpreters and explore classroom instruction strategies including interactive teaching techniques, develop instruction materials that improve instruction, boost literacy levels, enhance thinking skills and bring history to life in the classroom.

Loeschke was also selected to attend the World Congress by the Korean War Legacy Foundation. Training honored the sacrifice of Korean War veterans and the importance of teaching about the war and its legacy.

“I applied for the Korean War Legacy Foundation World Congress last summer,” she said. “I wanted to be in Washington, D.C. for the Wall of Remembrance dedication. My grandpa Vern Hinrichs was a decorated Korean War vet who never got to see the memorial. The experience was amazing.”

“The South Koreans we met were so grateful and appreciative of teachers. Sitting and visiting with U.S. Korean War vets was humbling. Their love of country and sense of duty is selfless,” Loeschke added.

She has been teaching since 1996, at Cannon Falls since 2001.

Loeschke said she doesn’t focus on politics of what she teachers, but things she’s passionate about including the Constitution and process of government, which is what she said in important and has been lost.

She was named 2017 Teacher of the Year by the Minnesota Council of Social Studies and was named 2018 Minnesota History Teacher of the Year.

Loeschke is a 2014 graduate of Ashland (Ohio) University Master of Arts in American History and Government (MAHG) program.

“I believe education is like life — one never fully achieves knowledge, or finishes learning,” Loeschke said about her philosophy of education.

“Teachers get kids when their knowledge glass is fairly empty, so we provide them with information; but we must also provide them with tools to become lifelong learners,” she added.