This summer 19 of Fayette’s elementary, middle and high school teachers will participate in a grant program aimed at increasing students’ knowledge of the colonial era.

“Creating a Nation: Seeds of Democracy” is a $1 million grant that has been funded by the Teaching American History Project. The grant is a collaborative effort of the Fayette, Henry and Cobb County School Systems.

Teachers throughout the Fayette County School System were given the opportunity to apply for available slots to take part in the grant. The following teachers have been selected to participate: Kim Morgan, Oak Grove Elementary, Suzy Givens, Kedron Elementary, Sally Meyer, Peeples and Tyrone Elementary, Katie Phillips, Cleveland Elementary, Marge Garrett, Tyrone Elementary, Sallie Rees, J. C. Booth Middle, Susan Adams, J.C. Booth Middle, Nancy Graham, J.C. Booth Middle, Shane Ratliff, Fayette County Middle, Nancy Woody, Flat Rock Middle, Joann Rouse, Rising Starr Middle, Janet Norman, Fayette County High, Garth Porter, Fayette County Evening School, Laurette Edenfield, McIntosh High, Jason Eisele, McIntosh High, Steve Kidd, McIntosh High, Jonathan Langford, Sandy Creek High, Charlotte Robinson, Starr’s Mill High and Becky McQueen, Whitewater High.

The goals of the grant are to increase the historical knowledge of how the events, people and core historical documents of the colonial era led to our civic ideals and principals, develop improved instructional strategies, increase use of non-fiction materials to strengthen understanding of history and improve student achievement through increased knowledge.

During the first year, teachers will spend two weeks in a summer institute with historians and locating primary documents at archives. During the second summer, they will spend one week in Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia.

This is the second grant that has been awarded to the three school systems by the Teaching American History Project. The first was in 2003 for the grant “Linking American History: Past to Present,” which addressed weaknesses in students’ knowledge of American history during the era of 1945 to present.

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