Free State High School history teacher Jason Pendleton has been named Kansas History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The New York-based institute is dedicated to promoting the teaching of American history.

Pendleton, who’s taught at Free State for seven years, will receive a $1,000 honorarium and will be in the running for the National History Teacher of the Year award. Free State’s library will receive a collection of history books and materials from the institute.

“I’m certainly honored and pleased that my assistant principal, Mike Hill, saw fit to nominate me,” Pendleton said Wednesday. “But I’m uncomfortable being recognized as the best. I’m not so sure I’m even best on my hallway at Free State, much less in Lawrence or the state.”