The Trust’s Teacher Institute: A Recap and a Thank You

With the American Battlefield Trust’s 2018 Teacher Institute now in the books for a week, and my own dispatches finally exhausted, I want to offer one final thank-you to the Trust for allowing me and Emerging Civil War to participate.

I wish I could have had the time to report on more of the conference. Participants had nearly twenty workshops and programs to choose from, and many of them ran concurrently. I couldn’t be in three places at once, especially when I was presenting. I also had to choose between the Civil War and the Revolutionary War tours on Saturday (and since I was leading the Rev War tour, I kinda had to choose that one!). 

The best part about the event is that it’s free for teachers. They have to pay their own way to get there—although a limited number of scholarships help subsidize that travel for some people—and the Trust takes care of the rest, courtesy of generous donations. If you consider how many students 200 teachers have the opportunity to influence, you quickly begin to understand how those donations represent an important investment in our future by encouraging historical literacy.

Most of all, it was inspiring to see so many teachers willing to travel from all across the country, giving up part of their summer vacation, because they’re so passionate about their jobs, their students, and the field of history.

ECW was privileged to be one of the Trust’s partner organizations for the event, and Dan Davis, Phill Greenwalt, Dan Welch, and I were all delighted to be there. We’d like to offer a special shout-out to our ECW colleague, Kris White, the Trust’s education manager, who organized the event, and to Garry Adelman, the Trust’s education director, for his boundless energy in support of Civil War education.

I encourage all teachers to consider attending next year’s Teacher Institute, which will be held in July in Raleigh, North Carolina. The T.I. is an exceptional experience, well worth the time and travel.

In case you missed any of my dispatches from this year, here’s a recap:

The Valley Forge Summer of the American Battlefield Trust

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: The American Way of War

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: Garry Adelman’s Photo Extravaganza!

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: Dan Welch’s Music Lesson

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: Independence Forever!

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: Where’s “Waldo”

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: Rethinking George Washington with Phill Greenwalt

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: Teaching Through Turning Points with Kris White

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: The Men Who Invented the Constitution

The Trust’s Teacher Institute: Helping Teachers Teach History More Effectively