Take up the Peace Day Challenge with the U.S. Institute of Peace!

Ahead of the International Day of Peace, which is marked each year on September 21, the U.S. Institute of Peace has created the Peace Day Challenge. We aim to raise the visibility of this day, to frame peace as an attainable alternative to the violence we see daily in the news, and to encourage individuals and communities across the U.S. and beyond to take an action for peace, to share it at #PeaceDayChallenge, and then to sustain it beyond the day. Learn more, and get involved at www.peacedaychallenge.org! Because Peace is Action, and it starts with You!

 

American Presidents Webinar Series

American Presidents and the challenges they faced will be the focus of TAH.org’s Saturday Webinars for Social Studies Teachers for the 2015-2016 academic year. Drawing from our list of 50 Core Documents, and exploring related sources, TAH.org’s American Presidents webinar series is designed to give teachers a deeper understanding of the issues – domestic and foreign – that each of 10 presidents faced, and how those men handled the challenges of their times.

For the 2015-16 season, TAH.org has partnered with the National Council for the Social Studies to bring two special, NCSS members-only webinars to teachers. If you’re a current NCSS member, make sure to let us know on the registration page so that you can be part of these two American Presidents webinars, one each semester.

Our first webinar George Washington: Father of the Country, will be held on Saturday, August 29, 2015 at 11:00 am until 12:15 pm EST. Live webinars will be held each month through May 7, 2016. 

For many young people, heroes take the form of athletes, people with wealth or power, or sadly, criminals with status. Recipients of the Medal of Honor are true heroes and their stories need to be known, appreciated, shared and told by our nation’s youth. The CHALLENGE concept was inspired by our recognition of the need to educate our nation’s youth on the true meaning of a hero and also after attending the Medal of Honor Bowl, 2015, noting the presence at the game of living recipients, each with a story to share.  

In 2012, the news media began addressing the crisis of poor writing in America. Some of the reasons that students note is a lack of connection to what they are asked to write as well as a lack of understanding of how to write. Therefore, the CHALLENGE presents an essay challenge that requires the research, writing and reporting of the details for the events/s for Medal of Honor Recipients. The CHALLENGE believes that students will appreciate the opportunity to write on a hero of their own choice and grow as writers in the process.  Because the challenge includes national distribution to schools, the CHALLENGE will provide detailed instructions that mimic writing proficiency guidelines for standardized testing, plus the writing curriculum found in the A Backpack Journalist, which we will donate to support the challenge.

All CHALLENGE essays will be reviewed by our staff teachers and qualified volunteers, with the winning compositions assembled in a BOOK that will be published and released for sale at the Medal of Honor Bowl in 2016. 

The value of this CHALLENGE and BOOK provide a vehicle for the Medal of Honor Bowl to provide an educational value to their mission and support the Medal of Honor Society. 

In the low country of South Carolina we will be also be found as an “in-school” program, while distributing information  to 27 states via the Youth Challenge Foundation,  the Future Farmers of America Organization. DODEA Schools and various military associations.   We are also connecting with public affairs within each military branch, and the Pentagon Channel and DINFOS.  Our distribution to schools across the United States is through the US Department of Education, with the support of our Senatorial offices.

Essay Youth Challenge                                http://www.mohbowl.com/challenge/

During this highly engaging, Essay Youth Challenge, students will research and learn about the true American Hero:  The Medal of Honor Recipient.  Each youth will prepare an essay with their research results in either written form or a short movie presentation.  The short movie presentation may include the use of the IPAD or other video format, but must be performed by the author of the essay.  The presenter may also use props and dress to help deliver their presentation.

The CHALLENGE content will access (www.cmohs.org) and other multiple websites that are designed to support the research required. The CHALLENGE will take into consideration Differentiated Learning Styles, supported by scholastic journalism lesson plans by A Backpack Journalist. Basics on how to research, and then write interview questions, letters and short essays on the subject matter are included also. A Backpack Journalist is donating the basic writing and interviewing guidelines and lesson plans. Movie production guidelines focus on the use of the IPAD and IMOVIE.

TAH.org and NCSS have partnered to provide a series of three webinars concerning the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and the change in the Constitution that they represented and did not represent. We will seek to understand these amendments within the Constitution’s basic structure to see how they fix problems endemic to the Constitution, while also understanding these amendments in their immediate context as vehicles to bring peace and protection for freedmen at the end of the Civil War. We will look at the layers of context and the immediate effects of these amendments-and also why they failed to secure their goals in the years immediately following the Civil War.

 

Even though you may have missed the first webinar this past Tuesday there's still time to register for the remaining two installments now.

• Tuesday, July 14: Completing the Constitution with the 14th Amendment 
  This webinar focuses on how states would be re-integrated into the Union in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War and the powers Congress assumed in that extraordinary time. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in all states of the Union, holding states to consistent standards for free labor and giving enforcement of this provision to the national Congress. Yet problems arose about the unequal treatment of freedmen after the war ended, giving rise to the need for a more radical limit on state power if the Union’s goals in the Civil War were to be accomplished.

• Tuesday, July 21: The 15th Amendment and the Failure of Reconstruction 
  Reconstruction presents a dual-edged dilemma, as Republicans tried to re-integrate the Southerners back into the Union while providing protection for freedmen. The easier the terms of re-integration for the Southerners, the more difficult it would be to secure rights for the freedmen. The formula Republicans hit upon was to secure freedmen through the vote, so that they could, in effect, protect themselves. This strategy, adopted by the Grant Administration, required a huge effort on behalf of the Union army and law enforcement and was ultimately abandoned as requiring too much of an abridgment on Southern self-government.

 

Time: 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm ET / 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm PT

Presenter: Scott Yenor, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Political Science, Boise State University, Idaho; partner faculty member, Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs, Ashland University, Ohio.

Register Now

Series Fee: $60 NCSS members / $150 NCSS non-members

Graduate credit: Available at an additional fee through Ashland University. More details will be provided in registrant notification.

 

You can read more about these programs on our Teacher Programs Calendar, or click here to register.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Jeremy Gypton, Teacher Programs Manager, at jgypton@tah.org. 

Good luck to the great minds in Charleston today!  Lead SC! 

Post pictures and share information!  SCCSS has 5 Board Members in attendance!  SC Geographic Alliance, SC Economics, Columbia's Holocaust Organization is there and many more! 

 

On Tuesday, May 19 at  12pm PT/ 3pm ET, ITVS, in partnership with American Graduate and the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NAEHCY), will host an online professional development event featuring a screening of film modules from the Independent Lens documentary, The Homestretch. This event will include a live chat with the filmmaker and experts who are leading national efforts to improve systemic support for the over 1.6 million young people who experience homelessness in the U.S.

The Homestretch follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and create a new life. Each of these smart, ambitious youths - Roque, Kasey, and Anthony - will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their educations while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age.

This online screening and live chat will introduce new resources and tools that leverage the powerful stories featured in The Homestretch to build the capacity of educators and administrators to support students who are experiencing homelessness realize their full potential. 

Filmmaker Anne de Mare as well as representatives from NAEHCY and the National Association for Homeless Education will share insights into the unique educational needs of youth experiencing homelessness, and discuss the systems that best support children and youth to learn, succeed academically, and achieve their dreams.

The conversation will surely be richer with participation from your network; we hope you will mark your calendar, bookmark the online event link and join us for this important event on Tuesday.

Below is further detail about the event, including the online event link.Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Learn more about The Homestretch: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/homestretch/

On May 5, 2015, CiCi’s Pizza is showing their thanks by inviting teachers to eat free on May 5th from 4pm until close. Valid teacher ID required to receive free buffet.
Select Chick-Fil-A locations are offering teachers a free sandwich with a valid id! (Call your local Chick-Fil-A to see if they are participating.)

Thank you PSTA for this information! 

Leslie 

Furman’s Emerging Public Leaders is a leadership and civic engagement program for high school students sponsored by the Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership. This week-long summer program (June 21 – 26, 2015) offers a series of experiences that enable students to develop into civic minded and engaged leaders in their communities. During the week, participants attend workshops at Furman that prepare them to plan and implement a service project addressing a specific need within their own communities. Students will then return to campus in the spring to present the results of their projects to their peers and a panel of judges. Additional project funds are awarded to the winner.

 

The program is free of charge to all current juniors who are selected this spring to participate.

 

Here is the link to the EPL website that contains a short video about the program, a link to the application, and additional information.  Please forward this link to students who may be interested.  https://riley.furman.edu/education/projects/emerging-public-leaders/emerging-public-leaders

 

Applications are due Friday, May 8, 2015.  Interested teachers, counselors, and administration may contact Melanie Armstrong (melanie.armstrong@furman.edu or 864-294-3688) at the Riley Institute for additional information.

 

SLO- Teacher Evaluations! From PSTA

Palmetto State Teachers Association still has a few spots open for their SLO Workshop tomorrow from 1pm-5pm. Registration will be open until 5pm tonight if you are interested in learning how Student Learning Objectives will be used in your evaluations next year.

Register online at www.palmettoteachers.org or call our office at 803-256-2065

Do you have an exceptional history or government student who is looking for a challenge this summer? If so, suggest the Ashbrook Academy to them!

 

The Ashbrook Academy is a week-long summer program from June 14th through 20th on the campus of Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. The Academy is designed for rising juniors and seniors with a deep interest in American history and government. We will study the American experiment through an understanding of the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and King's "I Have a Dream" speech. I encourage you to visit our website, www.AshbrookAcademy.org, for more information and a full schedule of events for the week.

 

The Academy is $750, but that includes room and board, all educational materials, and two elective credits in political science that are fully transferrable to any other accredited university. Some scholarship opportunities are also available.

 

If you know a student who would be a good candidate for the Academy, please direct them to our website where they may apply online. The application deadline is Friday, May 1st, 2015.