Grantee: Polk County School Board, Bartow, FL
Project Name: Teaching American History with a Florida Flavor
Project Director: Sherrie Nickell
Funding: $908,214
Number of Teachers Served: 270
Number of School Districts Served: 1
Number of Students Served: No information available

The district will partner with The Center for Florida History at Florida Southern College, Miles College, Polk County Historical Society, and The Ledger (daily newspaper affiliate of the New York Times) to enhance teacher knowledge of U.S. history and improve history teaching skills. A Teacher-in-Residence will assist access to resources, help plan 6-day summer immersion seminars for 30 participants per year, and facilitate an oral history project for students and teachers. The summer seminars involve site visits illustrating civil rights activism, Civil War battles, Native American history, colonial settlements, the Industrial Revolution and Progressive Era, and modern high-technology. Collaborations with Polk Education Foundation, Daughters of the American Revolution, and History Alive! offer grant opportunities, best practices learning, school competitions, and research-based teaching strategies. Each year, 60 elementary and secondary teachers will attend History Alive! training sessions.

Grantee: School Board of Orange County, Orlando, FL
Project Name: Relevant Experiences for American History Learners (REAL)
Project Director: Sandra Levenson (407) 317-3303
Funding: $999,948
Number of Teachers Served: 120
Number of School Districts Served: 1

Number of Students Served: No information available

REAL partners the district with Orange County Regional History Center, Florida Humanities Council Center for Teacher Education, University of Central Florida's College of Education and College of Arts and Sciences, History Alive! Teacher Curriculum Institute, Williamsburg Teacher Institute, and Performance Learning Systems in a professional development program for 30 5^th grade teachers and all 90 district 8^th grade American history teachers. Aimed at giving participants opportunities to learn pedagogical strategies, build content knowledge, develop mentor/coaching skills, fostering development of a professional network, and supporting the district's K-12 literacy initiative, REAL includes summer institutes, day-long seminars, mentoring instruction, an 8-part primary source workshop, technology training, and literacy training. Content will address needs expressed by teachers: the Constitution, Cold War, colonial America, Civil War, and 1890-1920 U.S. history. Seminar topics may cover the civil rights movement, World War II in Florida, democracy in Florida.