$1 million grant will boost history program

The Davis School District's history program will be getting a shot in the arm with a $1 million grant.

The money will fund the "History Underscores Belief Project" and will bring together the Davis district and Weber State University along with other local organizations to improve teachers' knowledge and techniques in teaching American history.

With No Child Left Behind mandates, history doesn't always get a lot of attention, said Shanna Futral, HUB project coordinator.

But HUB will teach educators ways to align history lessons with state standards while encouraging student involvement, livening up lessons and making them more hands-on.

It's important because history really does underscore belief, said project administrator Norma Jean Remington.

"We base the development of each of our own characters, our value systems, on experiences of the past . . . studying history becomes valuable because we see the experiences, the successes, the failures, we have elements that tell us what has happened both positive and negative in which we choose to draw from rather than having to reinvent the wheel or experience everything firsthand," said Remington. "We learn from our mistakes and we build upon our successes."

HUB will help teachers learn how to integrate technology such as interactive maps, GPS devices, digital cameras and virtual tours.

They will also learn how to encourage civic engagement through curriculum with mock courts, debates and simulations.

Futral said the grant will be used primarily for professional development, not for field trips or materials. And students will be assessed to see if the project has created any trends or improvement in student learning.

Training courses start this week. Instructors from WSU and other history organizations will hold five-day courses in five different areas — content knowledge, pedological methods, history inquiry, instructional resources and civic engagement.

Leaders hope, as a result, classroom history lessons will be more interactive and hands-on. Teachers will be introduced to state historical resources and students will be more engaged in social studies.

"The whole reason you study history is to make informed citizens, and that is what we are trying to do, is create a community of historians in our classrooms where the students and teachers are active, not a lecture format," said Futral.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com