Did anyone else catch the Scripp’s Spelling Bee on ESPN last week? My wife and I caught the last half of the final contest, and since we both work with kids of varying ages, we love watching the personalities and “quirks” of the students. I was also impressed that ESPN, the “Worldwide Leader in Sports,” […]
In March, I wrote a blog post about our collaboration with Decatur Middle School and Valley Mills Elementary School on an activity for our upcoming Indiana Bicentennial Train project. I met with this group of bright young people last week and wanted to share their idea. The team chose a 1907 railroad map from our […]
If you have followed politics and education trends over the past few years you have probably noticed theshift in focus toward a few key subjects, for this blog posts’ sake, most notably the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) initiative.There are many critics of STEM, both for and against, and all of their points are […]
The Indiana Bicentennial Train will make its debut this fall in northern Indiana. An exhibit on the train will look at pieces of Indiana’s 200 years of history while tents outside the train will contain hands-on activities, a first-person interpreter, and a community art space. It will be free to visit, and school groups are […]
At a recent In Your Neighborhood meeting, Erin Kelley (our director of Education and Community Engagement) noticed an interesting collection of costumes and props from a secret society on display at the Dearborn County Historical Society. She compared the way people would dress up and take on a role in those secret societies to what […]
In her call for improving history education in the US, Cathy Gorn, executive director of National History Day argues, The media, policy makers, and pundits are quick to point out the negative and report on what is not working. But where are the discussions on the demand for evidence-based, wide-ranging, effective, innovative approaches to teaching […]
Last week I traveled to Carthage Elementary School in Rush County to present a Civil War program to fourth grade history club students. I have visited this school every year for the past eight years and always find myself looking forward to stopping in the less-than-1,000-people town. The people are friendly and the students are […]
There are few terms that invoke more fear, anger and emotion in the American education psyche than the words “standardized test.” Its most modern Indiana incarnation, ISTEP+, meets the federal requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President George W. Bush in 2001. See? I guarantee you had some internal response to […]
So, National History Day contests are right around the corner and your project finally looks like it is all coming together. You’ve fought through paper cuts, delusional partners, sabotaging pets and other distractions. Your board stands up without duct tape, your bibliography is annotated, and your process paper is written. Now that you are seeing […]
Hot from the Development Office: The Cole Porter Scholarship for Indiana Musical Heritage Indiana?s past is filled with the stories of musical legends. From the jazz clubs of old Indiana Avenue to the contributions of greats like Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael, Indiana?s singers, songwriters and composers have made incredible contributions to the American music […]
