Zach Zimmer, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Westfield Middle School, has the chance to win a dream vacation but needs assistance from the community. Zimmer was selected as a top 30 finalist for the Hilton Hotel Teacher Trek Grant and now needs support in the final public voting phase.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved history and social studies. This is one of those things that has always interested me,” he said.
Zimmer is in his fourth year of teaching at WMS. He also serves as the eighth-grade head baseball coach and assistant football coach at the high school. Zimmer’s proposed adventure plan is based around three essential themes that will ultimately benefit and inspire his middle school students: history, geography and cultural awareness.
“Based on my seventh-grade social studies curriculum and the Indiana state standards, Egypt is the perfect location for my plan and for covering all three of its themes in a way that correlates to my classroom,” he said. “I’m going by what the book says. I don’t have a personal touch.”
Zimmer has outlined a trip that will allow him to experience the country in an adventurous, organized manner that will lead him along the Nile River as he travels to the Hilton hotel sites of Alexandria, Cairo and Luxor.
“With my history theme, the sites I plan to visit directly connect to the Indiana seventh-grade social studies standards. Each winter, I teach a two-month unit on Ancient Egypt and nearby Nubia. The trip will allow me to explore the architecture and burial grounds of the civilizations and leaders that we study during the unit. Through pictures, videos, and notes, I will be able to bring history to life in my lessons when I return,” he said.
Regarding cultural awareness, Zimmer will be able to explore a country that is home to a very different culture than his students experience in Westfield.
“While exploring the country, I will be able to try new foods, learn words of a new language, wear traditional clothing, and interact with people of a different religion,” he said. “The materials I purchase and the knowledge I obtain of this different culture will allow me to show students how different people live across our world.”
How to help
To vote for Zach Zimmer, visit https://hiltonhhonors.promo.eprize.com/teachertreks/:b=firefox19/. You must login using an email address to vote for “Zachary Z,” whose profile is located at the bottom of the page. In addition to supporting Zimmer, every time you vote you are entered to win one of 10 Hilton HHoners Gift Cards worth $250. You can vote every day through April 30. Because he was selected as a finalist, WMS will receive a donation from Hilton. If Zimmer is a winning teacher, the school’s donation increases to $1,500.