Two high school history teachers from California are set to receive the first Meryl Streep Educator Award at a national awards gala on 6 November 2026. It follows a major donation worth seven figures that actor Meryl Streep made to the National Women’s History Museum in March 2026. Their campaign has received official support from 100 universities and colleges across the United States.
Kristen Kelly and Serene Williams, teachers at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton, California, were selected for their work to develop an Advanced Placement U.S, according to announcements from PR Newswire and the National Women’s History Museum. The award recognises their work to create the first Advanced Placement course focused entirely on American women’s history. The award ceremony will take place in Chicago. The donation aims to expand the museum’s educational programmes and digital learning resources. Women’s History course. The course is informally known as WAPUSH.
Streep, who is the honorary chair of the 2026 event, created the educator award to recognise teachers who include women’s contributions to history in everyday high school lessons. Atherton, the campaign reached an important milestone after receiving written support from 100 colleges and universities, according to information released by Sacred Heart Schools. Because they believed that traditional high school history programmes were missing an important part of American history, kelly and Williams began working on the proposed course at Sacred Heart Preparatory.
The award will be presented during the museum’s 15th annual Women Making History Awards Gala. Under the current Advanced Placement programme managed by the College Board, high school students can take specialised courses in European History, World History, African American History, and Art History. However, there is no separate Advanced Placement course dedicated to women’s history. To show that colleges and universities were interested in the subject, Kelly and Williams started a nationwide campaign. Their goal was to get higher education institutions to recognise the proposed course and offer college credit or suitable course placement to students who completed it. These endorsements confirm that the participating institutions would accept course credits or offer students suitable placement after completing the proposed curriculum. The course will use original historical research, old records, and legal documents to explore women’s leadership, work, and social movements throughout North American history. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.