Mrs. Sara Kollbaum -- NCHS

Institution: Nashville High School Dist. #99, 1300 South Mill Street, Nashville, IL  62263

Courses: English I, English I AE, English III Honors, English IV Honors

Contact Information: skollbau@nashville-k12.org and (618) 327 - 8286, ext. 319

Background

I knew that I wanted to be an English teacher when I was in the sixth grade. Inspired by Mrs. Richards, my sixth grade teacher, I set out to achieve my dream.  This school year of 2025 - 2026, I am completing my thirtieth year of teaching at Nashville Community High School. I am certified in English, Civics, U.S. History, and World History. In November of 2002, I was successful in completing the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and am a National Board Certified Teacher(NBCT).  I successfully renewed my National Board Recertification during the 2010 - 2011 school year and again in 2021 - 2022.  I received my Master of Arts in American and English Literature from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in May of 2005. Since 2002, I have become emotionally and professionally connected to the study and education of the Holocaust. In 2008, I was selected to the Museum Fellowship Program at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.  With their guidance and support, I maintain to continue my study of the Holocaust and further promote the education of the Holocaust with all students and my fellow educators. To further my dedication to the study of the Holocaust and working with other Holocaust educators, I participated in the Memorial Library Summer Seminar (now TOLI) in conjunction with the Holocaust Educators Network and the National Writing Project in July 2010 and traveled to Poland to work on Holocaust education with American and Polish educators under the guidance of the Polish Embassy in March 2012.  I continued my Holocaust education work more locally by forging a strong relationship with the Midwest Holocaust Education Consortium and the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum through service on their Education Committee and as a visiting teacher and class each year.  I traveled to Jerusalem, Israel to study for two weeks at Yad Vashem with Echoes and Reflections in July 2022 and have since forged a strong relationship with Echoes and Reflections serving on their inaugural teacher leadership team and as a program facilitator beginning in 2024.  In June 2024 I became a Defiant Requiem Ambassador through a four-day study in Washington D.C.  I am currently co-writing the curriculum for A Train Near Magdeburg, a four - part documentary film series, that is scheduled to release in January 2026 on NatGeo.