MDE Fall 2024 Continuous Improvement Conference

Living Into Continuous Improvement: Off the Shelf and Into the Classroom

Interested in presenting? Click here to submit an RFP.

Keynote Presenter – Matt Vriesman, Current Michigan History Teacher of the Year and National History Teacher of the Year

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Mr. Matt Vriesman, the current Michigan History Teacher of the Year and National History Teacher of the Year.  Matt teaches AP United States History, AP World History, and AP African American Studies and is the Model United Nations director at East Kentwood High School in Kentwood, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, where he has taught for sixteen years.

According to the selection committee of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to K-12 American history education, Vriesman’s teaching stood out for his exceptional ability to tell the story of American history through the lens of his community and to integrate history with other content areas.

Vriesman encourages his students to question what they read in their textbooks and think critically about how the narrative of history impacts their worldview.  “We’re not just talking about these stories that happened 300 years ago or 1,000 years ago,” he said. “We’re really talking with each other about our present and assumptions that we’ve made about who we are. When you can get students to that place – it’s inspiring, and it’s hopeful.”