Good news

Well, since April 1st I have been on pins and needles waiting to see if I was going to be accepted to some institutes and other things I had applied for to further my teaching expertise. :)) You know, most studies show that the more a teacher knows about the subject she teaches, the more effective she is. That being said, I have always tried to find workshops and institutes that will help me in that endeavor. In the past I have gone to institutes on state constitutions, Lewis and Clark, the Civil War, and Thomas Jefferson. This year, I applied to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship. This is a foundation that is dedicated to strengthening Constitutional content in schools and encouraging teachers to focus on the Constitution in their classrooms. They offer a fellowship that pays up to $24,000 to obtain a Master's degree in constitutional studies and they also sponsor a 4 week summer institute in Washington DC on the Constitution of the United States. They accept one teacher from each of the 50 states per year. This year, their fellow from Idaho is..me! I am so excited to begin my Master's Degree in American History and Government. I just received word this week that I was accepted. You should have heard me yelling and screaming in the teacher's lounge, lol. It is a great honor, to be sure, and I feel very humble and grateful.

I also have some other fun things to do this summer. I also learned this week that I have been accepted to a one week institute on Abraham Lincoln held at Gettysburg, sponsored by the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History, and a one-week institute on the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution held in Philadelphia., sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I love trodding the places where our nation was formed and where crucial events took place. I will take lots of pictures and let you in on some of my experiences. After the school year I have had, I am looking forward to these experiences with great pleasure. History rocks!