Grantee: Hamilton City School District, Hamilton, OH
Project Name: America's Journey: The Quest for Freedom, 1492-1836
Project Director: Everett C. Mann (513) 887-5000
Funding: $731,631
Number of Teachers Served: 78
Number of School Districts Served: 1
Number of Students Served: No information available

This partnership for teachers in grades 5 and 8 brings together the school district, Miami University-Hamilton, Lane Libraries, and Michael J. Colligan History Project to develop, document, evaluate, and disseminate innovative models of professional development for American History teachers in grades 5 and 8 through 5-day summer institutes, four 1-day seminars during the school year, a multimedia history resource on DVD, a website, and 2-day regional U.S. History conference. The program examines the tenets of freedom and a democracy, including the Age of Exploration, Native Americans and the Trail of Tears, Continental Congress and American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, Slavery, and Women's Rights. Readings, lectures, creation of lesson plans, use of primary documents and multimedia resources, and site visits enhance the program.

Grantee: Mahoning County Educational Service Center, Youngstown, OH
Project Name: Teaching American History
Project Director: Barbara Williams (330) 965-7828
Funding: $790,115
Number of Teachers Served: 108
Number of School Districts Served: 14
Number of Students Served: 15,000

Partnering in this collaboration with school districts to improve educators' understanding of American history and instructional skills are Youngstown State University, National Council for History Education, Mahoning Valley Museum Collaborative, and Mahoning Valley Historical Society. Each of the three project years, teachers in grades 8-12 in 32 buildings of Youngstown, Struthers, Campbell City and Mahoning County schools will be selected to participate in 5-day extended summer history colloquia, 5-day coursework in teaching content reading, workshops, an assessment workshop, technology workshop, and study groups that meet five times during the school year to address U.S. History content following the mandates of Ohio state law: at the K-8 level, exploration through 1877; and at the grade 9-10 level, 1877 to the present. Topics include Westward expansion, transportation and communication, iron and steel industry, Industrial Revolution, immigration, African Americans and Civil Rights, educational and social reform, and role of the Mahoning Valley in war.

Grantee: Montgomery County Educational Service Center, Dayton, OH
Project Name: Miami Valley Teaching American History Project
Project Director: Margaret Stevens (937) 225-4598
Funding: $664,690
Number of Teachers Served: 40
Number of School Districts Served: 5
Number of Students Served: No information available

Teachers of grades 5, 8, 9, 10, and 12 receive professional development in this project, which partners with Wright State University, Greater Dayton Public Television, Montgomery County Historical Society, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historic Park, the U.S. Air Force Museum, and the National Afro American Museum. The focus is on four historical themes: the meaning of freedom (colonial period to the present, including the story of the Underground Railroad); taking a stand in history (a National History Day that highlights stories of individuals and groups throughout history); encounter, exploration, and exchange (a National History Day theme that encourages examination of encounters and exchanges among peoples and cultures); and making progress (analyzes the meaning of progress in regional and national history). These themes are presented in summer institutes-year 1, Making Progress: Living and Working in Ohio's Miami Valley, 1890-1929; year 2, Biography in American History; year 3, the Meaning of Freedom. In addition, teachers can participate in a training program on the Western Ohio Educational Association professional development day in October.