Humanities Texas is pleased to announce that Taylor Kratz of Mayde Creek High School in Houston has been selected as one of 15 recipients of a 2023 Humanities Texas Outstanding Teaching Award.
Kratz is the recipient of the Humanities Texas Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award, which recognizes exemplary K–12 humanities teachers. Humanities Texas presents annual statewide awards to encourage excellence in teaching and recognize Texas classroom teachers who have made exceptional contributions in teaching, curriculum development and extracurricular programming. Over 600 hundred teachers from across the state were nominated for the 2023 Outstanding Teaching Awards.
Congressman Morgan Luttrell and Humanities Texas Executive Director Eric Lupfer will present Kratz with her award during a presentation at Mayde Creek High School on March 27, 2024, at 9:30 AM. Kratz will receive a $5,000 cash award, with an additional $1,000 for her school to purchase instructional materials.
Kratz, who is in her seventh year in the classroom, teaches several sections of U.S. history, including on-level, AP and ESL sections of the course. She finds great passion in making the social studies classroom more accessible to emergent bilingual students and seeks out professional opportunities to share her findings, including at a Region 4 teacher conference.
“By making my classroom accessible to all levels of learners, it creates an environment where students want to learn and are engaged in the lessons because they know they are in a safe environment to learn and make mistakes,” said Taylor Kratz. “I am truly honored every day to be able to teach U.S. history to this demographic of students.”
“Taylor creates inspiring and engaging lessons that reach the needs of all her learners, from starting class with a joke or celebration of a silly holiday to varying lesson delivery in strategies that build historical thinking and literacy to impressive technology integration,” said Celaina Huckeba, instructional coach at Mayde Creek High School. “She is constantly looking for new ways to help her students be successful as high school students and as learners of the humanities.”
“Humanities Texas is pleased to recognize the achievements of Taylor Kratz and Mayde Creek High School,” said Humanities Texas Executive Director Eric Lupfer. “Kratz inspires and motivates her students to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”
Humanities Texas is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its mission is to advance education through programs that improve the quality of classroom teaching, support libraries and museums, and create opportunities for lifelong learning for
all Texans.
For a complete list of 2023 Humanities Texas Outstanding Teaching Award recipients, visit www.humanitiestexas.org/education/teacher-awards.