Anthony Fitzpatrick recently presented to teachers from the American History Rocks! Liberty Fellowship across western Oklahoma on the progressive era, industrialization and America's role in the world

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Dr. Kevin T. Brady, Ph.D., CEO of the American Institute for History Education, LLC, was interviewed by SmartCEO for their special technology section.

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Kevin T. Brady is the president and founder of the Swedesboro-based American Institute for History Education. The group develops teacher-friendly curricula and training designed to raise the standards of history education in elementary, middle and high schools

He has a doctorate in history from Temple University and is on the board of directors for the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies

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CICERO: History Beyond the Textbook™ has been awarded the AEP 2011 Distinguished Achievement Award, the highest standard for quality, professional educational resources, for Social Studies Curriculum in the 6-8 grade category.

The Association of Educational Publishers' annual awards program and its seal of excellence are widely recognized by educators, administrators, and parents as a mark of outstanding educational value. For more than four decades, the AEP Awards have honored outstanding resources for teaching and learning in all media and for any educational setting. Award winners meet the highest standards for quality, professional content for education and represent the most innovative learning solutions currently on the market.

One of the largest and longest-running programs of its kind, the AEP Awards and its seal of excellence are widely recognized by educators, administrators, and parents as a mark of outstanding educational value. Find out more at www.AEPweb.org/awards.

Cheltenham High School won the first annual American Heroes in History Bowl at Hershey May 14.

The event, sponsored by Franklin's Opus and hosted by the Hershey Hotel, was held as part of the National Heroes Day celebration.

The History Bowl was a contest between two high school teams — one from Pennsylvania and one from New Jersey. The Cheltenham team, including students Matt Warden, Jonathan Zevin, Johnathan Bennett, Ruth Saganty, Aaron Marks and alternate Joseph Liss, competed against a team from Millville High School.

The teams competed in a close battle for the coveted Ben Franklin trophy, and both were given one-year access to "CICERO: History Beyond the Textbook," an award-winning teaching U.S. history website.

The contest focused on the students' knowledge of American history and American heroes.

"We were so pleased to have such great participants from Millville and Cheltenham for our inaugural event," said Debbie Brown, managing director of Franklin's Opus, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the teaching of substantive American history.

"We hope that this event fosters a bigger interest in studying American history and the heroes who have helped shape our world," added Dr. Dennis Denenberg, a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of teaching heroes in the classroom.

"We had such a great time on Saturday," said Beth Mansh, the teacher representative from Cheltenham High School. "This event was so well planned, and everything seemed to run like clockwork. It was challenging, tense, exhilarating, entertaining, and just really fun all morning — and the trophy is amazing!"

The entire contest was videotaped and will be rebroadcasted on TeacherTube.com and the Franklin's Opus website (www.franklinsopus.org). TeacherTube.com, a video-based website for teachers and students, was a key sponsor of the event.

May 3, 2011

Swedesboro, NJ — The American Institute for History Education (AIHE) is pleased to announce that CICERO: History Beyond the Textbook™ has been named a finalist in the 2011 AEP Awards, the highest standard for quality, professional educational resources and excellence in education marketing. The Association of Educational Publishers' annual awards program and its seal of excellence are widely recognized by educators, administrators, and parents as a mark of outstanding educational value.

CICERO: History Beyond the Textbook™ is a 2011 finalist in the Distinguished Achievement Awards (DAAs) for all three audience groups (K-5, 6-8, 9-12) in the Social Studies category. The DAAs are judged according to category (Curriculum, Periodicals, Professional Development, and Technology), subject area, and grade level. Entries are evaluated on traits such as efficacy, usability, and overall educational value. The full list of finalists for this year's DAAs is posted online at www.AEPweb.org/awards/finalists.htm

Distinguished Achievement Award winners will be announced at the AEP Awards Banquet & Gala, June 8 at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, DC.

About the AEP Awards

For more than four decades, the AEP Awards have honored outstanding resources for teaching and learning in all media and for any educational setting. Award winners meet the highest standards for quality, professional content for education and represent the most innovative learning solutions currently on the market.

Find out more about CICERO: History Beyond the Textbook™ at http://www.cicerohistory.com/.

Washington, D.C. — On February 2, 2011, the USDoE published the Notice Inviting Applications for the 2011 Teaching American History Grants. AIHE is a leading provider of services in the TAHG grant program and can help your district earn up to $1 Million to improve student achievement in U.S. History.

To learn more about the Teaching American History grant program, go to www.teachingamericanhistorygrant.com where you can download the full grant application package and learn more about AIHE's success increasing student achievement through this program.

Washington, DC — Congressman Chris Carney announced today that BLaST Intermediate Unit 17 has been awarded a $993,039 Teaching American History Grant by the US Department of Education. This discretionary grant program is designed to promote teaching American history as a separate subject within core curriculum, improve teachers’ knowledge and appreciation of the subject and raise student achievement.

“As a former college professor I believe that education is the backbone of our nation and understanding our country’s history is especially valuable,” said Carney. “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.”

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 program is designed to raise student achievement by improving teachers’ knowledge and understanding of and appreciation for traditional US 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.

&ldquopThe Teaching American History Grant is a monumental opportunity for teachers in the IU 17 region,” said BLaST IU 17 Director of Educational Planning Cori Cotner. “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.”

Grant Details:

BLaST Intermediate Unit -17
Williamsport/Canton, PA
Grant Amount: $993,039
Grant Project Period: 5 years
Grant Budget Period: 09/01/2010 — 08/31/2013

Sugartown Elementary School teacher Meredith Oswald recently entered and won an online contest run by the American Institute for History Education (AIHE). The contest asked teachers to submit lesson plans, ideas, and activities used in the classroom to teach students about personal and historical heroes that are inspirational. Oswald submitted her students’ “Heroes Tribute” project and won the contest.

As part of the “Heroes Tribute” project, fourth grade students in Oswald’s class learned about important historical figures. Students assumed the identity of those figures and participated in mock interviews where they taught each other about heroes such as Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Jackie Robinson, and Helen Keller. Students also wrote poems and created posters about their own personal heroes.

Oswald’s winning submission will be featured on the “National Heroes Day” web site, along with a picture of her class. In addition, Oswald received a number of prizes, including: a free subscription to CICERO: History Beyond the Textbook™, an online digital toolbox for teaching American history; a complete set of HEROES Trading Cards; and one copy of the book 50 American Heroes Every Kid Should Meet by Dr. Dennis Denenberg. Students in Oswald?s class received individual packs of trading cards. Orlando Rivera, vice president of marketing for AIHE, and author Dennis Denenberg visited Sugartown to award the prizes to Oswald and her students.

“I was already really excited about how hard the students had worked both individually and collectively on our ‘Heroes Tribute’,” said Oswald. “Not only did the students learn a great deal, but the entire project also strengthened student relationships and enhanced the character behavior in our classroom, so this (award) is the icing on the cake of an incredibly meaningful experience!”