Grapevine High School history teacher Kyle Norwood has been named the 2025 Texas Outstanding Teacher of American History by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The award is presented to a teacher who has an incisive knowledge of American history, fosters the spirit of patriotism, demonstrates the ability to relate history to modern life and events, has high academic standards and is committed to students, among other criteria.
Norwood, who began teaching in 1995 and joined the GHS staff in 1998, stated that “History is best learned by getting out and seeing it.”
He fondly attributes his love of American history starting in the back of an olive green 1967 Pontiac station wagon since their family moved frequently because his father served in the United States Air Force, offering him the opportunity to see different parts of the country. That appreciation for history continued to grow throughout his lifetime as he visited sites such as Pearl Harbor, the hills of Montana and a plutonium nuclear reactor in Washington. He has also had the opportunity to meet teachers from the United Kingdom and Russia to study the Cold War.
“Together with those early childhood jaunts in mind, I am always looking for places in the curriculum to share with students these experiences,” the now teacher of Advanced Placement classes of U.S. history as well as U.S. Government and Politics, who also volunteers as a docent at the George W. Bush Presidential Library, remarked.
He has also invited veterans to his classroom to share their stories.
One 96-year-old veteran shared with students his story of being in the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 on Mount Suribachi where the American flag was raised. Another told students about what it was like to be on board the U.S.S. Utah the morning of December 7, 1941.
“It was clear to me that he embodies all that a teacher of American history should be: knowledgeable, enthusiastic, engaging and interested,” Beverly Douglas, who holds several leadership positions with DAR at the local, state and national levels, stated.
His students agree. One former student who submitted a letter of recommendation about Norwood for the award stated that he “brings a joy and exuberance to the classroom.”
For Norwood, teaching history has a larger significance.
“I consider the title of ‘teacher’ a privilege and an honor,” he stated, adding that “I hope that in some small way our students can share with others what they learned in class and pay it forward so that the story of our country is not forgotten.”
Norwood received the state award in March and was honored locally on April 10 by the Grapevine Captain Molly Corpin Chapter of DAR, which submitted his nomination.