Canton History Teacher Earns Significant National Honor

CANTON, CT — For students in Canton Middle/High School history teacher Nora Mocarski's classes, the nation's past is not just a boring list of dates and events.

Those taking the Winchester resident's lessons go on journeys where the importance of the past is emphasized to young people preparing for the future.

Recently, Mocarski was named a Connecticut recipient of the 2025 Connecticut History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Gilder Lehrman is a New York City-based nonprofit whose mission is to prepare the nation's teachers to educate students in American history.

Mocarski said she aims to teach every student that their generation is responsible for ensuring the ideals of the Declaration of Independence — which is celebrating 250 years next year — are met.

"For my students...particularly my seniors in my government course, I open and close the course with a rhetorical analysis of the Declaration of Independence," Mocarski told Patch.

"I say to them that every generation has a wonderful opportunity and privilege to define for itself the meaning of the Declaration of Independence."

When Canton students return to the classroom next week, they will be issued a charge by Mocarski.

"They have a voice in its evolution," she said of the Declaration. "That is both exciting and empowering. But it also carries with it a tremendous responsibility to ensure that those promises in that document are met.

"This takes courage, and they must be courageous."

Currently, Mocarski is the social studies department chair at Canton Middle/High School, leading the school to new AP courses and Model UN integration.

According to the institute, she has a 92 percent AP U.S. History pass rate over 16 years. It means if you pass her class, you exit CHS with college history credit.

Winning awards is nothing new to Mocarski, and they include Canton Public Schools’ District Teacher of the Year (2019–20) and the DAR “Outstanding Teacher of American History Award” (2014).

At home, she serves on the Winchester Board of Education and has evaluated social studies programs, and has contributed to Connecticut’s state standards.

For her efforts, she will receive a $1,000 honorarium and historical resources from the Gilder Lehrman Institute.

Established in 2004, the award honors one K–12 history teacher annually from each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense schools, and U.S. territories.

Mocarski has a master's degree in liberal studies from Wesleyan University (James Madison Fellowship, 2007), a sixth-year certificate in educational leadership from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, and a master's in educational leadership from Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

While an undergraduate at Ohio University, she earned a Division I softball scholarship and was a conference all-academic honoree.

For more information on the 2025 Connecticut History Teacher of the Year Awards by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, click on this link.