ROCK SPRINGS – Western Wyoming Community College and the History Program will host local educators and the state coordinators of several popular civics initiatives on Monday, Feb. 29, from 4 – 6:30 p.m. in Room 1309 of the Rock Springs campus.
Teachers, coaches, resource providers, and principals from grades 5 – 12 are invited to attend this informative presentation to learn how their students and schools can become involved in Wyoming History Day, We the People, and Project Citizen programs. WWCC announced the event in a press release.
There is no cost to attend this educational workshop, and participants do not need to have prior experience with any of the three civics programs in order to participate. To register, contact Richard Kean, state coordinator for Wyoming History Day and Project Citizen, at [email protected] by Feb. 22.
Wyoming History Day occurs every April and is administered by the American Heritage Center (AHC) at the University of Wyoming. It is a prelude to National History Day, which culminates with a contest every June following a full year of programs and projects aimed at engaging students in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Wyoming students produce an array of imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries and research papers based on their research into Wyoming historical topics organized around an annual theme.
Wyoming Project Citizen is an interdisciplinary curriculum that focuses on democratic citizenship and teaches students how to monitor and influence public policy. Students’ work in Project Citizen develops their reading, writing, researching, interviewing, computing, analyzing, synthesizing, and presenting skills. It also helps students gain the knowledge and skills essential to good, active citizenship.
We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution is, according to the Wyoming We the People Facebook page, “a nationwide civic education effort that was created to commemorate the framing and adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and to revitalize education programs on the Constitution in U.S. schools. The program is a joint effort of a nationwide network of educators, civic leaders, the business community, and U.S. and state legislators.”
Central High School Principal Matt Strannigan, of Cheyenne, is the state coordinator for Wyoming We the People. He will be a presenter at the Feb. 29 education workshop at Western, along with Kean and AHC Acting Director Rick Ewig.
Educators in Sweetwater County are encouraged to attend the Feb. 29 workshop and learn more about how these civics programs can expand upon and enrich their students’ classroom work, enhance critical-thinking skills, and establish the essential foundations of engaged citizenship. For more information, contact Kean at [email protected] or WWCC Assistant Professor of History and Political Science Jessica Clark, Ph.D., at [email protected].