Crestview Educator Named 2025 National Lowell Milken Center Fellow

Crestview Middle eighth-grade history teacher Meghan Menchella remembers the example set by all of the outstanding social studies educators she enjoyed throughout her education.

It’s what informs her teaching philosophy with her students today.

“I want my students to know that social studies and history are dynamic,” she said. “It is in the past, but we’re constantly evolving and changing how we learn about history, what we learn about history, that it’s more about thinking critically rather than memorizing content. I want my students to know all of the opportunities that they can have by learning through history and how it will affect them not only in my class but in life outside.

“Social studies should be interesting. I look for opportunities to help me present it to my students in the way that they want to learn.”

This summer, Menchella was selected for a prestigious program that will add more resources to her teaching toolkit, as one of six teachers who earned a fellowship to the Lowell Milken Center (LMC) for Unsung Heroes in Fort Scott, Kansas.

The LMC Fellowship is a merit-based award for educators of all disciplines who value the importance of teaching respect and understanding through project-based learning. The center selects exemplary teachers from the United States and around the world to collaborate on projects that discover, develop and communicate the stories of unsung heroes in history.

Menchella spent the week of June 15-22 in Fort Scott, working with LMC staff and other Fellows to gain knowledge, educational resources and support in helping students cultivate a passion for learning by creating projects that initiate positive change.

“That was an incredible experience, getting to meet everyone, because everyone had something to bring to the table,” Menchella said. “We could collaborate about what they had done that worked well, what were some pitfalls to avoid. That way, we could use each other as a resource, as well as the center. We’re still in contact. Our group chat was very active, and it will be throughout the year because we’re going to push each other to move forward and bring these new ideas back to our classrooms.”

The Unsung Heroes program encourages students to uncover important historical figures who are often overlooked, engaging in project-based learning as they conduct research then make these stories known through documentaries, plays, websites and visual arts projects.

Menchella said she hopes to engage her students with Unsung Heroes projects during her AcLab time next school year.

“If we get started and see people who are worthy of discovering or researching, and the students get in there and make a really cool presentation, they can use it to strengthen their own public speaking or creative skills,” she said. “That is a worthwhile endeavor for my students to be able to reach beyond our classroom and look for things, have a dedicated time for role models or worthwhile causes worth discovering.”

Menchella has served as a leader on her professional learning community and her eighth-grade team at Crestview, also serving on the building leadership team and sponsoring the school’s National Junior Honor Society chapter. She mentors second-year teachers throughout Rockwood and works with universities to mentor preservice teachers.

A Eureka High graduate, Menchella was a semifinalist for the 2020 Missouri Teacher of the Year and, in 2023, was named a Milken Educator, one of only 53 in the state to earn the honor since 1996.

“Meghan’s exceptional ability to make history come alive for her students within the classroom has kindled their love of learning about the past and its effect on the present,” LMC Executive Director Norm Conard said in a press release. “Our team of 2025 Fellows can look forward to gaining many new techniques from Meghan for using project-based learning to discover unknown heroes and their impact on history.”

Menchella and Rockwood Coordinator of Social Studies 6-12 Dr. Jordan McGaughey – also a Milken Educator and past LMC Fellowship recipient – have also been chosen to present about the Unsung Heroes program at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference, in December in Washington, D.C.

“The people I have met through this program are fantastic,” Menchella said. “Having them a phone call away, throughout the States, is unique, to ask ‘What is your cohort doing, what is your state doing?’ It’s been the most incredible experience.”