$993,039 Teaching American History Grant awarded

BY ERIC HRIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: September 3, 2010

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Review Photo/ERIC HRIN The BLaST Intermediate Unit 17 building along Route 14 south of Canton.

John Brenchley, business manager at BLaST Intermediate Unit 17 in Canton, was happy with the announcement Thursday by Congressman Chris Carney that the IU has been awarded a $993,039 Teaching American History Grant by the U.S. Department of Education.

This discretionary grant program is designed to promote teaching American history as a separate subject within the core curriculum, to improve teachers' knowledge and appreciation of the subject and to raise student achievement, according to a news release from Carney.

"It's a great opportunity for us to have the resources up in our area to help out he educators," said Brenchley, who works at the IU's Canton office. "I think there are only two in the state that got it, so we are pretty happy that our application was successful."

The idea of the program, he said, is to get the teachers more engaged and give them additional resources and a different way of looking at the topics they teach.

"Ultimately, it will benefit the students," he said.

According to the news release, the Teaching American History Grant program is designed to raise student achievement by improving teachers' knowledge and understanding of and appreciation for traditional U.S. history.

BLaST IU 17 will use the grant primarily for professional development for teachers of American history across their service area. The development will include training, field trips, a five-day summer institute, technology integration, online professional development units and classroom toolkits, content specialist training and an AP training class.

In the news release, Carney said, "As a former college professor I believe that education is the backbone of our nation and understanding our country's history is especially valuable. It is the right of all children to receive an excellent education and it is our responsibility to make sure the history programs have qualified, well-trained teachers, to assure that our students receive the education they deserve."

The news release continues:

BLaST Intermediate Unit, one of 29 regional education service agencies in Pennsylvania, serves 19 school districts in four counties - Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan and Tioga. They provide a multitude of special education, curriculum, technology and business office consortium services. Additionally, the Division of Educational Planning provides curriculum support, teacher-in-service training, paraprofessional training, school improvement support and a wide-range of other services.

"The Teaching American History Grant is a monumental opportunity for teachers in the IU 17 region," BLaST IU 17 Director of Educational Planning Cori Cotner said in the news release. "Most of our schools are small and rural. Funding is hard to come by for these schools. BLaST IU 17 prides itself in offering high-quality professional development for our teachers, however, it is very difficult for us as a small, rural IU to offer content-specific specialists. The Teaching American History Grant will truly open a window to a whole new level of professional development for our teachers, and in turn, for our most precious resource - our students. We are ecstatic to watch the growth of our teachers through this program and to also witness the positive effects on student achievement."

According to the news release, the grant project period is five years, and the budget period is from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, 2013.

Eric Hrin can be reached at (570) 297-5251; e-mail: reviewtroy@thedailyreview.com.

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