10/06/2009   Albany, NY
Bryan Thompson, De Kalb Historian, receives the Bruce W. Dearstyne award, October 26, 2009 Pictured: Bruce W. Dearstyne, Bryan Thompson, Christine W. Ward, NYS Archivist and Chief Executive Officer of the Archives Partnership trust
The Board of Regents and the State Archives have selected Bryan Thompson, the Town of De Kalb Historian, to receive the 2009 Bruce W. Dearstyne Annual Archives Award for Excellence in the Educational Use of Local Government Records. This award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding initiative, leadership, and creativity in encouraging and promoting the use of local government historical records for elementary and secondary education. The award was presented to Mr. Thompson at a luncheon ceremony at the Cultural Education Center in Albany on October 26, 2009. The Dearstyne award is named for a former division director of the State Archives who was a strong advocate for the use of historical records in the classroom. The award commends Mr. Thompson, a retired classroom teacher, for his outstanding work developing the Classroom Toolkit component on his town historian’s website. The Toolkit combines historical background and document components into a valuable and dynamic resource on local history for teachers. All topics include an overview and procedures for implementing the lesson(s), copies of documents, learning activities, learning objectives and links to the New York learning standards and key ideas.