Northampton Area Middle School eighth-grade social studies teacher Michael Seng has been named the 2017 History Teacher of the Year by the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society.

Seng, a United States veteran who served in Iraq, makes announcements at the middle school concerning important dates in U.S. history.

“We also do the days that are infamous,” Seng said at the April 10 NASD board of education meeting, where his teacher of the year honor was lauded.

“They don’t often get recognition except by the smiles on the student faces,” said NAMS Principal Patrice Turner, who attended a dinner to honor Seng.

Seng said his announcements are facilitated by television studio equipment at the new middle school.

“It’s a lot easier because there’s a teleprompter,” he said.

“I try to take the past and connect it to the present so that the students know what’s going into the future,” Seng said of his teaching philosophy.

“You have a major impact and a direct impact on our kids and administration at the middle school,” NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph Kovalchik told Seng.

Seng received an honorarium of $250, as did the middle school.