The Pisgah Forest Institute (PFI) staff is pleased to welcome Ron Rudd, Curriculum Coordinator with the Transylvania County Public School System, to its Advisory Board. The Institute enjoys a close, cooperative relationship with the administrators and teachers in that award winning school system. Ron now assumes the Board position formerly occupied by Lynn Clark, the Science Coordinator in the Henderson County School district. The PFI staff is grateful to Lynn for the sage advice and insights she provided during her tenure on the Board.
"I want to express my appreciation to Congressman Charles H. Taylor for including his role in the establishment of PFI among the accomplishments during his tenure as the Representative for the 11th North Carolina Congressional District," stated PFI Executive Director Dr. Robert A. Sweeney. "Congressman Taylor remains a strong supporter of our program. His only charge to us has been to be scientifically based and objective in our instructional activities. The implementation of that advice has been at the core of our program."
For the third consecutive year Dr. Sweeney has been invited to address the attendees of the Preparing Educators for Adventures with Kids (PEAK) Conference which will be held in December 2004 at Camp Greenville in Cedar Mountain, North Carolina. Bob will present two workshops dealing with identifying and securing external support for environmental education programs.
The PFI staff played a major role in the organization and running of the 14th Annual Conference of the Environmental Educators of North Carolina, Inc. which was held in Rosman, NC on October 1st-4th. Over 115 teachers, park rangers, nature interpreters and other professionals attended. Activities included lectures, hands-on workshops, lesson plan exchanges, field trips and other activities that contributed to the professional growth of most attendees. Conferees were introduced to ecological programs at other WNC locations including the Cradle of Forestry which is part of the USDA Forest Service. The participants also earned Continuing Education and Environmental Educator of North Carolina Certification credit. Operations Coordinator Heather Cosby, Administrative Assistant Jayne Hall, Operations Assistant Jessica Sharp, and PFI based AmeriCorps Trainee Elizabeth Kampouris led field trips. Bob was the Conference Chair and gave a paper on composting that was co-authored by Jessica.
The PFI staff is most pleased that Brevard College has doubled the size of the working space that its program will occupy in the Moore Science Building. A new conference/printer room has been added along with an additional storage area which also could double as more office work area.
PFI’s website is located at www.brevard.edu/pfi.
KceeI is working on developing and designing both an informational flyer promoting the Institute and a brochure for next year’s courses. The flyer will be used to “put something in the hands” of potential attendees before the brochure is distributed.
Another promotional piece is being designed that illustrates the environmental complex at Keystone, the nature and history of the campus, on-campus partnerships, off-campus partnerships, and the environmental education opportunities within.
KceeI and the Willary Water Resource Center will be hosting a special Instructional Program Planning Council (IPPC) meeting on November 3rd. The IPPC is composed of at least one representative teacher, administrator, or staff member from each of the 20 districts in the local area. This meeting will act as a recruiting tool for next summer’s courses and give KceeI the opportunity to present itself to a greater audience. A detailed agenda is being prepared. The session will focus on the “Environmental opportunities and resources at Keystone College”.
KceeI is in the process of writing course proposals for its workshops to be approved for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit through NEIU-19. CPE courses are graduate level and must be approved by both the Continuing Professional Education Council as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The process is extensive and the guidelines involve creating detailed course descriptions, session-by-session outlines, and rubrics.
KceeI is also hosting a workshop titled “Biology of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and Conifer Alternatives” on Keystone’s Campus October 23rd from 9am-12pm. Speakers and presenters will include Keystone College faculty, Tom Mc Lane and Richard Evans. Tom is a certified landscape architect who served as a consultant/designer for the plantings. He is also developing an interpretive guide for the conifers. Richard Evans holds a Bachelor’s Degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin and a Master’s Degree in ecology from Cornell University. He has been with the National Park Service for 12 years where he serves as an ecologist performing such duties as directing and managing the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Program, overseeing the Delaware River water quality protection program, and serving as the project manager for biological inventories and ecological studies. Following presentations from both, Tom will lead the attendees on a hike of the interpretive site which is located on Keystone’s main campus. This is event is open to the public and all are welcome.
KceeI’s website is located at www.kceei.keystone.edu.
Brevard College
After a bit of a delay due to Hurricane
Brevard AAM is partnering with Mars Hill AAM to provide a workshop series on digital storytelling that combines LOC primary source images with digital sound and editing techniques. The first workshop series began September 28 and will continue October 5, 8, and 11 at the Brevard’s AAM lab. Teachers from the entire Brevard service area are enrolled in this workshop series. Due to great demand and a long waiting list, a second series has been scheduled for November 9, 11, and 12.
Brevard’s AAM program website is located at: http://www.brevard.edu/aam/.
Mars Hill College
At the end of August, Dr. Ed Shearin and AnneMarie Walter conducted a special digital storytelling workshop for Teaching American History Master Teacher Corps. The teachers developed some excellent and very creative digital stories. Chris Bach of Madison Middle School and Toby Anderson of Mars Hill Elementary created a digital story that was based on the famous photograph (LOC digital ID: cph 3c14749) of the four students from North Carolina A&T University who began the sit-in movement at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, NC. Titled “Can I Get a Cup of Coffee?”, the story gives a brief history of the Civil Rights movement from the Civil War to the Greensboro sit-in. This digital story could be used in the classroom as an introduction to a Civil Rights unit or to foster critical thinking and discussion.
“Political Institutions and Social Change” is the theme of the digital story produced by Mary Schillereff of Jones Elementary and John Pruett of Claxton Elementary. Both teachers work with academically and intellectually gifted students in the Asheville City School System. Their digital story depicts social progress noted through political institutions over time. The teachers used specific examples of emancipation and suffrage presented through LOC images and narration that they wrote and recorded. The story culminates with an emphasis on trailblazers who set standards for the continued pursuit of human rights.
Other teachers in the workshop completed stories about women’s suffrage, westward migration, World War I, accepting other’s differences, and other topics. Project Coordinator Polly Johnson completed the AAM program at Montreat College and continues to challenge these excellent teachers.
Ed and AnneMarie have hit the road, taking digital storytelling to Riverbend Elementary in Haywood County. Eleven teachers in this K-5 school are currently working on their stories.
Several other schools have contacted the MHC partner to bring digital storytelling to their location. Burnsville Elementary teachers will spend their Wednesday afternoons learning about the American Memory collections and how to integrate the resources found there into digital stories. They will also have the opportunity to bring digital cameras into the classroom to strengthen their students’ writing and vocabulary skills.
At Mars Hill College, the evening class is well underway with 12 teachers learning about implementing digital storytelling in large ways and small. A full class is registered for the 20-hour series that begins in mid-October.
MHC and Brevard College are teaming up to present digital storytelling on the Brevard College campus to teachers in Transylvania, Henderson, and Polk counties. The training is scheduled for October. MHC AAM staff members will also be meeting with their AAM counterparts from the University of South Carolina Upstate to review techniques and processes Mars Hill uses to facilitate digital storytelling training. USC Upstate will teach digital storytelling in the near future.
AnneMarie visited with students in CS200, Computer Applications for Educators. As pre-service teachers take this course early in their college careers, this is an this opportunity to introduce them to LOC resources, particularly the Learning Page. The students are then added to the AAM e-newsletter distribution list.
AnneMarie is scheduled to speak to two sections of American Literature about using American Memory. In preparation for the class, AnneMarie found a digital copy of “The Village Blacksmith” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which was written in his own hand and contains changes as the poem developed.
AAM cohort teacher and Mitchell County Teacher of the Year Tamara Main Houchard was recently invited to lead a workshop in Long Beach, CA. Tamara apprenticed with famed basket maker Billie Ruth Sudduth, whose work is based on the Fibonacci numbers, a mathematical system found in nature. The unit, “Math in a Basket” integrates math, art, science, social studies, and language arts through teaching the students to weave a basket. Tamara, who uses the unit in her classroom, taught this program to lead teachers and basket makers in Los Angeles County. For more information about Billie Ruth Suddeth’s baskets and their mathematical influence, go to http://www.brsbasket.com/index.html.
During Hurricane Ivan, the large classroom in Mars Hill College’s Memorial Building was transformed into the Emergency Operations Center for Madison County. That facility was selected in part for its technology resources, particularly wireless Internet access that was funded by the AAM program. Although the county was spared major damage, the AAM staff was pleased to be able to provide assistance to the Emergency Management Team.
Finally, the Mars Hill AAM program is pleased to announce that AnneMarie Walter has been promoted to Associate Director. Congratulations, AnneMarie!
Mars Hill’s AAM program website is located at: http://www.aam.mhc.edu/.
Montreat College
On August 26, Montreat partner staff presented an hour-and-a-half workshop during the opening of the Health Adventure's new Memory Exhibit. The participants enjoyed the information shared about the LOC and left with information packets to share with other teachers.
Teachers from W.D. Williams Elementary School completed an 18-hour workshop series on digital storytelling. Sunshine Elementary School is continuing a 35-hour series they began in July. Three additional schools are scheduled for a full 18-hour series thru October and November. Two schools have scheduled the 18-hour workshop series for January through April.
Montreat’s AAM program website is located at: http://aam.montreat.edu/.
California University of Pennsylvania
Workshop Activities
California University of PA began delivering its first workshop series to teachers at Washington High School. The first workshop, “Introduction to LOC American Memory Project and Online Primary Resources,” was held on September 3rd and was preceded by an AAM overview PowerPoint presentation to all high school teachers, their principal, and four representatives from Intermediate Unit One. Following the overview, 42 teachers divided into two groups in separate computer labs and participated in the workshops. Overall reaction was positive as evidenced by the teachers’ desire to participate in a series of six more workshops.
The second workshop, “What Are Primary Resources?”, was presented at Washington High School on September 15th following regular working hours. Ten teachers attended, and material covered included examples of primary resources, evaluating primary resources, copyright and fair use, and citation of primary resources. The next workshop, “Integrating Primary Sources Into the Classroom”, is scheduled for October 13. The workshop was facilitated by California University’s new digital preservationist, Byron Holdiman, with assistance from adjunct trainer Justin Ruth.
Outreach Activities
On August 31, Mike Brna and Byron Holdiman met with William Wilson, Director of Federal Programs at Connellsville Area School District, to discuss delivering AAM to their school district. The group agreed to meet again in early October to begin developing a plan to teach AAM across the school district.
On September 1, Mike and Byron met with R. Tim Marks, Ph.D. and Joetta Britvich, the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, respectively, at California Area School District to explain the AAM project. The consensus was that California Area teachers are in need of Act 48 credits to maintain their teacher certifications and students needed to improve their literacy test scores to meet Pennsylvania’s learning requirements. There was also interest in inquiry-based learning to improve critical thinking skills for students, as well as a mutual desire to strengthen the working relationship between California University and California Area schools as a way of facilitating teacher and student development.
Staff Development
Digital Preservationist Byron Holdiman, AAM Assistant Annette Gates, and two adjunct trainers, Michael Hudson and Justin Ruth, participated in several meetings to discuss strategies for designing, delivering, and evaluating AAM. The adjunct trainers were recruited from California University and will continue to interact with the AAM project to deliver workshops as demand grows. The expectation is that others will be added to the pool of adjunct trainers to help deliver workshops across the service region.
Collaborative Activities
California University and Waynesburg College AAM staff met in the sprit of collegiality at Waynesburg College to assure that AAM was being delivered with some degree of consistency to constituents in Congressman Murtha’s service area in Fayette, Greene, and Washington Counties. Meeting participants discussed marketing approaches, designing and delivering workshops, and incentives for schools.
Intermediate Unit One officials have agreed to collaborate with California University’s AAM project to explore ways the two entities can work together to improve teacher professional education in California University’s service area. Four representatives from Intermediate Unit One attended the AAM overview and first workshop at Washington High School to learn more about AAM and its role in professional education in Congressman Murtha’s district.
CUP’s AAM program website is located at: http://www.cup.edu/education/aam
Waynesburg College
September was highlighted by a presentation to the Waynesburg College Board of Trustees. One academic program is presented at each biannual board meeting and only the best and most exciting programs are highlighted. AAM Director Barbara Kirby presented the history and details of the AAM program, and Associate Director Ann Canning presented an introduction to the LOC and its online resources. Digital Preservationist Amy Martin handled all technical matters that were complicated by the lack of Internet service as a result of severe flooding. The trustees were extremely receptive of the program and asked many questions. One trustee enrolled in the upcoming evening workshop.
Barbara and Ann presented the AAM program to the Trinity Area Act 48 Professional Development Council. The program was very well-received. The next day, Yvonne Weaver, Assistant Superintendent and chairman of the Act 48 Council, called and booked three in-service dates with the AAM staff. One hundred forty teachers (90 high school and 50 middle school) will be introduced to AAM and the LOC. About 60 of the teachers will receive advanced training.
The staff presented a workshop for the Waynesburg College faculty during a campus “hot topics” session. Ann demonstrated a classroom activity that utilizes LOC materials and challenges students to think critically. Again, the session was complicated by a failed Internet connection. The team was well-prepared with a back-up plan that did not require a live connection to the Internet. The hot topics session is being supplemented by two hands-on sessions for faculty that will complete the introduction to the LOC online primary source documents.
Fall workshops are scheduled in four districts using the format that best fits the individual needs and preferences of the respective districts. An on-campus workshop open to all districts served by Waynesburg College is scheduled for Wednesday evenings October 27 through November 17. Outreach to district superintendents continues as the staff strives to schedule training for each district in the college’s territory. Additionally, Ann and Amy met with the California University AAM staff to share successes and program goals.
Waynesburg’s AAM program website is located at: http://aam.waynesburg.edu
University of South Carolina Upstate
Autumn brings with it prospects for a productive season at USC Upstate for the AAM team. The Partner has begun three fall workshops focusing on “Instructional Use of Digital Images.” Two are district-wide and open to all grade-level teachers. The other is a school-wide series being offered to an elementary-level group.
Starting in October, Digital Preservationist Samantha Cofield will be leading an exciting series on “Digital Movie Making”. The beginner level workshop series, “Creating Digital Movies”, will focus on an introduction to using Microsoft MovieMaker 2. This will be followed by an intermediate-level workshop series called “Digital Video Recording” which will make use of recording equipment such as camcorders and microphones.
The USC Upstate-AAM team has recently been invited to contribute to local conferences. In September, Samantha presented an overview of the program to school librarians at a conference hosted by the media specialists of Spartanburg County. She and Bob Pettis are preparing to present for the South Carolina Council for Social Studies at a convention in Greenville, SC.
Regional faculty members have also been very responsive in requesting presentations about AAM and American Memory in their education classes. Samantha presented to two elementary social studies methods classes at USC Upstate in September. In early October, she will be presenting to two more pre-service social studies groups at the University Center of Greenville.
USCS’s AAM program website is located at:
http://www.uscupstate.edu/academics/education/adventure_mind.asp
Home School Program
AAM Home School Program Scheduled to Present at Conferences
Pam Johnson, AAM Home School Director, will present “From Myth to Millennium: Investigating the Tarheel State” at the Education Excellence Fair at the T+L²: Leading Learning to a Higher Level Conference in Denver scheduled for October 27-29. “Online Lessons Using Library of Congress Primary Source Documents” will be presented by Pam at the Research/Technical Showcase at the E-Learn conference in Washington, DC, scheduled for November 1-5.
Press Releases
During September, AAM Home School staff sent press releases to 16 radio stations, 20 newspapers, and 14 4-H newsletters in Western North Carolina. Information cards have been sent to approximately 3,700 registered home schools in the 15 counties in the 11th Congressional District. The response has been strongest for the newspaper press releases and the information cards.
Registration for the Fall AAM Home School Program
Currently there are 197 participants signed up for the AAM Home School Program computer labs and 106 signed up to complete the lessons from home. The online participants are from Florida,
New Lab Assistant at Tri-County Community College
Sarah Tatham will be serving as new computer lab assistant at the Andrews campus of Tri-County Community College. Sarah recently returned to Western North Carolina after completing her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Rollins College. She was an Exceptional Education Teacher for high school students in the Brevard County School System (Melbourne, Florida). You may contact Sarah at LabtechsTriCounty@ercwc.org.
Lab Assistant Training
Each fall the lab assistants from the ten college and community college AAM Home School labs meet to review changes in the AAM Home School Program as well as new material on the LOC website. The training took place on September 24. Special guests for the luncheon included Chris Dennen, Kelly Vreeland, Jennie Pressley, and Oran Mosteller from the ERC. The lab assistants reviewed some LOC resources for students and teachers and the “new” AAM Home School website. This site will be piloted in the labs during October and will go live in November.
The Home School’s AAM program website is located at: http://www.aamhomeschool.org/
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