Fairfield school officials laud Teaching American History program at MUH

July 20, 2009

“I feel like I won the lottery, being a part of this,” said Michele “Mikie” Masanek, 8th grade social studies teacher at Fairfield Middle School.

Masanek is one of several Fairfield teachers taking part in the Teaching American History (TAH) IV program at Miami University Hamilton (MUH) this summer, funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education – the fourth TAH grant that MUH has sought and received since 2003 on behalf of area school districts.

“I really enjoy the program. To learn about it (during the summer institute at MUH), then get to go experience it (on field trips) at the end of the program, is as good as it gets for a social studies teacher,” Masanek said. Last week, the group visited the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus and Fort Ancient State Memorial Park in Warren County. Previously they traveled to Virginia and visited Colonial Williamsburg and Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello. Future trips are planned to Washington, D.C. and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The three-year summer program (2009-11) is designed to improve teacher knowledge of American history content, and offer ways to effectively convey this knowledge to students. Entitled America’s Journey: Ever-Growing Freedom, TAH IV reaches out to Fairfield, Middletown, and Princeton city school districts. Fairfield also was part of TAH II, which concluded last summer.

Connecting with our shared American past

“The grant aims to improve student knowledge of U.S. history and promote an understanding of what it means to be American by connecting with our shared American past,” said Dr. Johanna Moyer, program director and visiting assistant professor of history at MUH. TAH IV targets teachers in the 4th, 5th and 8th grades, when Ohio content standards focus on U.S. and Ohio history, Moyer said.

“Teachers receive graduate-level instruction in history as well as exposure to new pedagogical methods in the social sciences. The program also provides participants with hands-on interaction with artifacts of the past through field trips to museums and archives and living-history exhibits. I think it’s a fabulous program,” she said.

Grace Martinez-Bunker, English as a Second Language (ESL) instructional specialist for Fairfield and a member of the TAH IV team, said the program is inclusive of ESL.

“It’s an excellent program. It gives our teachers pedagogy to do the work. From an ESL perspective, we learn strategies to implement ESL curriculum so those kids are learning the content. The program offers tips to effectively teach English language learners,” Martinez-Bunker said.

Cheryl Crawford, 5th grade teacher and chair of the Social Studies Department at Fairfield Intermediate School, said she has been waiting 30 years for opportunities like TAH.

“We love our TAH days. It has given me a lot more knowledge, validated a lot of the knowledge I had, and introduced new ways of teaching,” Crawford said.

MUH and the three school districts also are partnering with the Ohio Social Studies Resource Center, operated by the Ohio Historical Society to provide teachers with classroom materials and resources pertaining to Ohio history. The grant also provides each district with funds to promote teacher development in social studies and U.S. history, as well as books, DVDs, online subscriptions to educational websites and other student materials.

TAH IV application ranked second in nation

MUH campus dean Dr. Daniel Hall said Miami Hamilton has received nearly $4 million in TAH grants from the U.S. DOE in the last five years.

“Miami Hamilton’s TAH IV grant application was among 600 submitted nationally. With so many applications, to be in the funded category is cause to celebrate. But there is more. We also learned that the MUH application was ranked second in the nation out of the 125 that were funded, according to the U.S. DOE,” Hall said.

Bonnie Fitzharris, Curriculum Director, Fairfield City Schools, said the TAH grant has provided professional development and opportunities for social studies teachers that most school districts are unable to provide due to funding.

“In addition to developing new teaching strategies and understandings, the TAH experience gives the teachers a network of other social studies teachers, from MU and surrounding districts, with whom they can share ideas and grow as a professional learning community. Our district is very appreciative of the opportunity the TAH grants has provided for our staff,” Fitzharris said.

“Miami Hamilton’s TAH program has had a positive impact on the way social studies is taught in the district,” she said.

Other Fairfield teachers on the TAH IV team are Karen Brassfield, Julie Crutcher, Emily Heizer, Shirley Herzog, Valerie Isaac, Heather Kauffman, Sandy Noonan, Anne Northrup, Sally Pietch, Kristin Sims, Karen Smith, Holly Templeton, Ellen Turkelson, Alexis Vafides, Lisa Whited, Linda Woodward and Kim Young. The Fairfield team is led by Bill Miller, district curriculum coordinator for grades 7-12.

Along with Moyer, the MUH TAH IV team includes co-content directors Drs. Bob Meckley and George Vascik; administrative co-directors Drs. Michael Carrafiello and Martin Johnson; evaluation coordinator Dr. Howard Epstein, and instructor Oleta Prinsloo. Drs. Steve Thompson and James Shively of the Teacher Education Department on Miami’s main campus in Oxford are providing training in pedagogical methods. Dr. Allan Winkler, Distinguished Professor of History on the Oxford campus, and Dr. Rob Schorman, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Miami Middletown, are serving as instructors. MUH Webmaster Liz Miller designed and maintains the TAH IV website www.evergrowingfreedom.org and online classroom. Amy Lamborg was the grant writer.