Archive for the ‘Professional Development’ Category

For the past ten years, the Bill of Rights Institute has partnered with the Mount Vernon Education Dept. on a range of wonderful programs from Teachers’ Institutes to Teaching American History grants. Recently, the Bill of Rights Institute awarded their George Washington Prize for Teaching America’s Founding and a $2,500 cash award to Christopher Belch of Canton High School in Canton, Michigan. All participants of the Bill of Rights Teachers’ Institute “Shaping the Constitution: A View from Mount Vernon” are eligible to participate in the essay contest. Of his experience, Christopher said, “The privilege of being selected to attend the Bill of Rights workshop has been a dream come true! Upon first arriving at Mount Vernon, I was yet again awe struck and it is hard to find the words to describe the opportunity to get an intensive and personalized tour of the estates and the life of Washington.” Congratulations Christopher!

This summer, the new George Washington Teaching Ambassador for the state of Oklahoma, Jan McClaren, came to Mount Vernon to attend two of our Teacher Institutes, and returned home full of ideas and George Washington-love. This two-year Teaching Ambassador program, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, makes it possible for Jan to travel the state of Oklahoma teaching students about George Washington’s leadership and showing teachers the FREE resources available through the Mount Vernon Education Department. Jan already has requests coming in from teachers all over the state who want her to come to their own classrooms. A teacher favorite is her lesson plan where students choose a presidential candidate from a selection of anonymous resumes of leaders (including Washington, FDR, and even Hitler!) and then campaign for their candidate. No surprise that George Washington has won many of the classroom elections!

The governor of Oklahoma has been drawn into the excitement as well, and last week our Director of Programs, Nancy Hayward, was asked to present a copy of Rembrandt Peale’s Porthole Portrait of George Washington to the state of Oklahoma. Also present were our Oklahoma partners in this initiative- from the left, Kelly Curtwright, Director of Social Studies Education, Oklahoma Dept. of Education, Dan Provo, Director of the Oklahoma History Center, Nancy Hayward, Mount Vernon Director of Programs, Jan McClaren, Teaching Ambassador, Governor Brad Henry, Jean Hendrickson, Executive Director of Oklahoma A+ Schools, and Roslynn Wade, Program Director of Oklahoma A+ Schools.

To learn more about the Teaching Ambassador program, see Jan’s schedule of events across the state, and read about Jan’s adventures in Oklahoma schools, be sure to check out George Washington Wired Oklahoma!

The George Washington Teachers’ Institute welcomes Mount Vernon area teachers to the Estate for two days of lectures, workshops, first person performances, and tours every July. The highlight of this year’s program was a discussion between Woody Holton, National Book Award winning author of Unruly Americans and the Origin of the Constitution, and Catherine Allgor, author of A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation, moderated by Emmy award winning journalist, Cokie Roberts. Director of Programs, Nancy Hayward, said, “We are dedicated to providing quality programs for our local teachers, and so we were delighted that over 200 teachers joined us for this special look at the role of the disenfranchised in the Constitution.” We would like to thank all the speakers who joined us for this event, as well as a special thanks to the First Federal Congress Project for co-sponsoring the program. This program is free to all teachers, and can be reserved by emailing education@mountvernon.org each June.

For the full 45 minute video, please email education@mountvernon.org for the YouTube link.