Local schools awarded history grant

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

Students at Gateway and Hampshire regional high schools can look forward to learning about American history well outside the classroom, thanks to a five-year, $1.6 million grant recently awarded by the U.S. Department of Education.

The grant project, titled "Memorializing Promise and Conflict: A Monumental History of U.S. Democracy," will use the federal money to pay for field trips, seminars and a series of professional development programs for U.S. history teachers in six school districts across western Massachusetts.

"This funding is a great boost for our teachers. The resources that they are able to bring into the classroom are virtual and it really makes a big difference," said Hampshire Regional Assistant Superintendent Anthony Ryan. "This gives them a clear opportunity to enrich the classroom."

Over the next five years, students will delve into a new 50-year period of American history, beginning this year with the era from 1950 to present and then working backwards.

The project was designed by a consortium of partners that includes the Center for Teacher Education and Research, Westfield State College, Veterans Education Project and the Historical Journal of Massachusetts.

Thanks to the grant, each new school year will begin with a field trip to visit monuments and historic sites relevant to the era that is being studied.

Ryan said in past years, students have visited old manufacturing buildings in Lowell and other monuments across the state.

"They don't limit our field trips to local sites," said Ryan. "We get the opportunity to travel to historic locations statewide."

The money will allow each teacher to create an archive box of primary sources, documents, tools, books and artifacts to bring history back to students in the classroom.

Then, based on recent research showing that interest in history stems from family experiences and personal stories, the Veterans Education Project will bring personal accounts of people who witnessed or lived through the historic events as part of teacher training.

American history teachers will then continue additional training throughout the school year with a series of seminars focused on U.S. history content, analysis of student work, and the "Crafts of a Historian" co-led by the editor of the Historical Journal of Massachusetts. Participating teachers will also take part in workshops that include book groups and instructional technology training.

Gateway Regional will serve as the fiscal agent for the grant. Other participating districts include West Springfield, Westfield, Chicopee, and Pittsfield.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com