Kymberli Wregglesworth
2019 Michigan Teacher of the Year Finalist
Kymberli Wregglesworth has taught social studies courses at Onaway Secondary School for over 25 years. She was formerly a student at OHS, graduating as valedictorian in 1993. She continued her education at Alma College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science in 1998, a Master of Arts in Education from Michigan State University in 2003, and a Master of Arts in American History and Government in 2016 from Ashland University. She also earned her administrative certification through the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals in 2018. Wregglesworth has presented at a number of local, state, and national conferences, and maintains a membership in several educational organizations including MACUL, MCSS, NCSS, and MCCE.
One of her favorite ways to learn is through travel, and as such she has traveled to Philadelphia, Gettysburg, and Washington, DC with the Presidential Academy for American History and Civics in 2008, studied at Georgetown University with the James Madison Fellowship in 2012, and to several locations in Finland and Germany with the Gerstacker Educational Leadership Fellowship in 2019. Wregglesworth was also chosen as an inaugural recipient of the Auschwitz Legacy Fellowship in 2022, traveling to locations in Poland including the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. She taught 4th-7th grade social studies at the Mathen Mappillai Memorial Public School in Theodical, Kerala, India in 1996-97 as the recipient of the Alma College Global Service Fellowship. She has also attended numerous weekend- and week-long trainings at historical locations around the United States. Wregglesworth takes students to the Zekelman Holocaust Center annually, and has also taken students to Chicago and Detroit to view the award-winning Hamilton: An American Musical, and to visit Washington, DC and Philadelphia.
Wregglesworth’s talent and expertise as an educator have been recognized numerous times by a variety of organizations. She was chosen as the High School Educator of the Year by the Michigan Council for the Social Studies in 2015, served on the inaugural Michigan Teacher Leadership Advisory Council in 2017-18, and was the Region 2 Teacher of the Year and a finalist for Michigan’s Teacher of the year in 2018-19. She was also honored by the Meemic Foundation in 2018 as a “Superhero of Education,” and her Constitution Day lesson plan was awarded an Honorable Mention by the Bill of Rights Institute in 2018. During the 2020-21 school year, she served as a University of Michigan Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia (MENA-SEA) Teacher Program Fellow, and was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Michigan Return to School Advisory Council in 2020, and the Michigan Student Recovery Advisory Council in 2021. She served as a Policy Fellow with the Michigan Teacher Leadership Collaborative for the 2021-22 school year, and returned to mentor other teacher leaders as a Senior Policy Fellow in 2022-23. Wreggleswort was honored by the Bill of Rights Institute as a finalist for the National Civics Teacher of the Year award in 2023. She was chosen to serve the Michigan Council for the Social Studies as President-Elect in 2021, and concluded her three-year term as Past President in 2024.
