By Sheila Richmond
Two goals of the Louisiana Heritage Education Program (LHEP) are to enhance education and to instill a sense of stewardship in students. Toward accomplishing these goals, within the past year, LHEP has conducted workshops for teachers, sponsored a Mini Grants program for teachers, aided in the redesign of a college-level course, and begun the development of a heritage education website. None of these endeavors would have been possible without our partners.
Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU), on whose campus NCPTT is located, has proven to be a most valuable resource. For workshops for the teachers, NSU provided meeting rooms and opened computer labs for teachers to use. Staff at the Cammie G. Henry Research Center provided a tutorial on using archives. The Louisiana Creole Heritage Center, Regional Folkorist Program, and Department of Social Sciences provided material and staff for a tour of the Cane River area. Archeologists from Department of Social Sciences provided materials, presentations, and a site visit. Both the Education Technology and Electronic Learning departments provided guidance for the development of the website. Staff at the College of Education presented workshops, aided teachers in developing lesson plans and assessments, and are working on the redesign of courses.
The Louisiana Department of Education has also been a prominent contributor to LHEP. Staff have helped to conduct workshops, provided printed and online resources for teachers, and have aided teachers in the application of curriculum standards and the development of assessments. The Louisiana Center for Educational Technology has offered guidance for lesson development and online presentation. The Region VI Service Center provided their lab and a brief tutorial in INTECH (INtegrating TECHnology in the Student-Centered Classroom). Even schools around the state have in some aspect partnered with LHEP by allowing their teachers to participate in the program.
In the preservation community, several state agencies have been most helpful. The State Historic Preservation Office, combined with the Office of Cultural Development (OCD), has provided printed material and presentations for workshops and online resources. Administrative duties for the LHEP Mini Grants program are provided by the Division of Archeology, OCD. The Louisiana Office of State Parks also provided material and allowed site visits during the summer institute for teachers. The Louisiana Preservation Alliance, a National Trust statewide program, provided scholarships for teachers to their workshop and has disseminated LHEP information. The nearby Cane River Creole National Historical Park, a national park and valuable resource, provided material, presentations, and site visits.
Although some of these partnerships are of a formal nature with proper paperwork and signatures, most are informal, cooperative endeavors, fueled by the shared vision of heritage education. All provide guidance and advice when asked, materials and resources when needed, and a network of information not matched by any single organization.
Sheila Richmond was Heritage Education Coordinator at NCPTT.