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Local Educators to Participate in National Program

The first of several educators have been selected from a pool of more than 300 applicants to participate in the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institute to take place in June, July and August.

Each year, the Library of Congress provides the opportunity for a carefully chosen group of K-12 educators to attend one of its five teacher institutes in Washington, D.C.

During the five-day program, participants work with Library education specialists and subject-matter experts to learn effective practices for using primary sources in the classroom, while exploring some of the millions of digitized historical artifacts and documents available on the Library’s website.

One of the sessions has been designed for educators who teach science or collaborate with science teachers. Activities will draw on science-related items within the Library’s collections, as educators explore a variety of topics including the nature of science, the practices of scientists, and the connections among science, technology and society.

Another special session will focus on items in the collections that support teaching and learning about civil rights struggles throughout American history. Items from the Library’s exhibition "The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom" and the Rosa Parks collection will be featured.

Educators attending the teacher institutes participate in and develop primary-source-based teaching strategies that they can take back to their school districts, apply in the classroom and share with colleagues. Teaching with primary sources is a powerful way to help students ask engaged, probing questions, develop critical-thinking skills, and construct knowledge. All educators may freely access classroom materials, teaching tools and strategies for teaching with primary sources from the Library’s site for teachers at www.loc.gov/teachers/.

Applicants to the Teaching with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institutes reflect the diversity of the world of K-12 education. Participants in a teacher institute session typically include school library media specialists and school administrators, in addition to classroom teachers. Those selected come from many different states, representing large metropolitan school districts and smaller, rural school districts. The expertise provided by the Library of Congress during the institutes can benefit every level of K-12 education.

Primary sources are the raw materials of history—original documents and objects that were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources—accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience. Students working with primary sources become engaged learners while building critical-thinking skills and constructing new knowledge. Teachers working in the Library's collections will explore the largest online collection of historical artifacts with access to millions of unique primary sources for use in instruction.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled integrated resources to Congress and the American people. The Library serves the public, scholars, Members of Congress and their staffs. Many of the Library’s resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s website at www.loc.gov.

Participants in the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institutes (June-August 2015, full list pending)

  • Elizabeth Bacon, Sidwell Friends School, Washington, D.C.
  • Marisa Bernard, Plantation Elementary School, Lafayette, La.
  • Rebecca Bunt, Canyon Hills Middle School, El Paso, Tx.
  • Patricia Burns, St. Mark Catholic School, Wilmington, N.C.
  • Katelynn Cheramy, Chappelow Arts Magnet School, Evans, CO
  • Sara Dantuono, Heards Ferry Elementary School, Sandy Springs, Ga.
  • Angela Dau, West Elementary School, Wamego, Kan.
  • Keith Drucker, Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy, Huntington Park, Calif.
  • Katherine Fish, Profile Junior Senior High School, Bethlehem, N.H.
  • Megan Flaherty, All Saints Catholic School, Canton, Mich.
  • Heather Frankfort, Brookview School, Rockford, Ill.
  • Maureen Gilroy, Enfield Elementary School, Ithaca, N.Y.
  • Bridget Harrell, South Plaquemines High School, Buras, La.
  • Cinnamon Johnsrud, Franklin School, Loomis, Calif.
  • Mary Lockman, Henry Maxwell Elementary School, Antioch, Tenn.
  • Patricia Louis, Aliamanu Elementary School, Honolulu, Hawaii
  • Niyati Pandya, Montgomery College, Montgomery County, Md.
  • Althea Rainge, Washington Math Science Technology Public Charter High School, Washington, D.C.
  • Morgan Ricks, Tupelo (Miss.) High School
  • Dawn Rivers, Onaway Elementary School, Shaker Heights, Ohio
  • Aritia Smalls, New Century International Middle School, Fayetteville, N.C.
  • Paige Solomon, Norfolk (Va.) Collegiate School
  • Carri Svoboda, Providence Christian School, Santa Barbara, Calif.
  • Jessica Tammaro, Lockeland Design Center, Nashville, Tenn.
  • Jessica Tyson, Oakland (Calif.) Technical High School
  • Jared Wilson, Norfolk (Va.) Collegiate School
  • Nicole Wong, Sally Ride Elementary School, Los Angeles, Calif.

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PR 15-091 06/11/15 ISSN 0731-3527

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