Sarah Taylor has taught Dual Enrollment U.S. History at Salem High School in Salem City Public Schools since 2002. She earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in history at Virginia Tech, and her particular interest is in early American history. Her thesis was about the importance of gender and age to understanding the status of elderly women in early American society. The research was largely focused on published sermons, funeral oratory, and tombstone inscriptions from the New England region where the Puritan influence made these sources readily available.

Sarah has participated in many wonderful professional development opportunities while employed at Salem. The most professionally rewarding activity was as a Teaching American History Grant, History Scholar. The grant gave me the opportunity to do independent research in the area of Virginia’s Civil Rights history. The product of this research was a website framework, with lesson plans that incorporated primary sources from around the state reacting to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Some of the work completed on this project was used by George Mason University to develop a website on citizenship and Virginia government.