NRB Press Release
December, 2005
Mid Atlantic Region wins national award for Outstanding Achievement in Promoting Civic Understanding in a Diverse Society
The Archivist with Lee Webster, Leslie Simon, David Roland, Angelo Davis, John McEvoy, V. Chapman-Smith, Patrick Connelly, Diane Ermillo
This award is presented to a group from the Office of Regional Records Services – Mid-Atlantic Region
The members of the group are:
Lee Webster, Leslie Simon, David Roland, Angelo Davis, John McEvoy, V. Chapman-Smith, Patrick Connelly, Diane Ermillo, Brenda Bernard, Matthew Dibiase, Elliott Drago, Gail Farr, Kathleen Groch, David Miller, Jefferson Moak, Meg Phillips, Colleen Rafferty, Dana Keene Sloan, David Weber
This team successfully led the return of the National History Day program to Philadelphia after a nearly twenty year absence. Their work addressed the limited participation of minority, economically disadvantaged, and urban areas in National History Day, has become a model for the National History Day program around the country.
This initiative brought together a broad range of 37 community and cultural partners to address the needs of minority and disadvantaged students in the region, and is a model of the kind of leadership and collaboration the National Archives can undertake in local communities.
The project reached more than 200 educators, providing teacher workshops on the National History Day program throughout Philadelphia and in most inner city public school settings. The workshops were essential to teacher participation in the program and provided a forum for the National Archives and its partners to help teachers understand how to use primary resources in the classroom. The Mid-Atlantic Region also hosted various open house programs for student researchers, giving students the special support needed to do primary research.
The result of this teams efforts was a highly successful Philadelphia National History Day competition in April 2005, with every qualifying student receiving a full scholarship to attend the Pennsylvania State Finals.
By reestablishing an acclaimed educational program in the Greater Philadelphia region, this team has created a significant opportunity for educators and students in America’s fifth largest urban area. They marshaled a significant segment of the Philadelphia community to work together to improve the quality of education in the local schools with particular focus on public schools with high minority and low-income populations. The team has also provided a solid framework for the Mid-Atlantic Region’s own collaborative work and an anchor on which it can promote the use of National Archives’ holdings for local education.
This award is given for Outstanding Accomplishment in Increasing Diversity Participation in Education and Cultural Programs.
