This consortium brings 13 districts with limited resources in the northeast Tennessee region of southern Appalachia with a partnership of the LEA, the Jonesborough/Washington County Heritage Alliance, and the East Tennessee State University's Departments of History, College of Education, and Center for Appalachian Studies and Services. Aimed at enhancing teacher knowledge and instructional skills in American history, the program creates dialogues among teachers and historians, develops creative learning strategies for students, and provides access to technology. The program includes summer institutes, mini-institutes, lectures, seminars, conferences, mentoring, team building, and workshops on "Teaching History through Storytelling." In Year 1, two summer institutes address Expansion and Reform for fourth and eighth grade teachers and Modern America for fifth grade and high school teachers. In Years 2 and 3, six institutes focus on Colonization and Settlement, the Revolution and the New Nation, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Industrial U.S., the Great Depression and World War II, Post-WWII, Three Worlds Meet, and Contemporary America.