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May 5, 1999 50 Educators to Participate in Library of Congress American Memory Fellows Program Third Annual Educators Institute to Aid Participants in Use of Electronic Primary Sources The National Digital Library Program of the Library of Congress has announced the selection of 50 educators to participate in the 1999 American Memory Fellows Program. The program is an opportunity for teams of outstanding middle and high school humanities teachers and library/media specialists to improve the teaching of American history and culture in their schools by using digitized primary sources from the Library. "The American Memory Fellows Program is a chance for the Library to partner with educators across the nation in exploring the uses of electronic primary sources," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "The 50 teachers who will come here this summer will be instrumental in helping us spread the word about our National Digital Library Program's importance to education." The American Memory Fellows will gather in Washington, D.C., for a National Digital Library Educators Institute, July 18-23. Fellows will learn about the Library of Congress's digitized American Memory collections of photographs, documents, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings and motion pictures available at www.loc.gov. During the Educators Institute, the Fellows will share in a professional development experience that will shape the way the Library's unique American Memory collections are used in schools across the country. The 1999 Fellows join 100 graduates of the 1997 and 1998 Educators Institutes. Like their predecessors, the 1999 Fellows will create teaching units based on the nearly 2 million American Memory materials now on-line. Then, in school year 1999-2000, Fellows will test their teaching units in the classroom and will revise them for eventual dissemination to the education community through both the Library's World Wide Web site and at professional education forums nationwide. Interactive teaching unit ideas proposed by the selected American Memory Fellows have included projects on Latino immigration, the life and times of Frederick Douglass, the "electrification" of America, historical and literary components of storytelling and American history through music. The Educators Institute "has been the most stimulating experience of my professional life," said Jane Garvin, of St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis, Mo. Liz Horn, Boise High School in Boise, Idaho, said, "I am an important link that will bring this material to students. ... The digital collections will open opportunities to students who have not had access to this type of material before." Twenty-five, two-person American Memory Fellows teams, selected by an independent review panel from 151 teams of applicants, comprise teachers, librarians, curriculum coordinators, media specialists and other educational professionals from across the nation. The American Memory Fellows are frequent users of technology in the classroom, and they are experienced using primary sources to motivate students, promote critical thinking, and help students connect history to their own lives. Each Fellow is an active leader in the field of education and has the ability to disseminate his or her expertise to educators in their region. American Memory Fellows will also cooperate throughout the school year in an on-line National Digital Library Teacher Network. Through this forum, they will exchange ideas and learn from each other through organized on-line discussion groups. The American Memory Fellows Program is part of the National Digital Library Program, which aims to make available 5 million American history items from the collections of the Library of Congress and other repositories by 2000, the Bicentennial of the Library (www.loc.gov/bicentennial). The National Digital Library Program is one of the Library's birthday "gifts to the nation." The 1999 National Digital Library Educators Institute is made possible by a grant from an anonymous donor, who is helping the Library reach out to the education community. # # # 1999 AMERICAN MEMORY FELLOWS NORTHEAST Dawn Lee, Media Specialist MID-ATLANTIC Alexandra Weisman, Teacher Team 3 Sophia Mallett, Teacher Team 4 Kenneth Corfield, Teacher Team 5 Robert Gabrick, Teacher Team 6 Ginger Attarian, Teacher SOUTHEAST Tina Pounds, Media Specialist Team 8 Jan King, Teacher Team 9 Patricia Baron Carlson, Teacher SOUTH Ruth Woodfork, Teacher MIDWEST Kathleen Wells-Morgan, Teacher Team 12 Christopher Pietsch, Teacher Team 13 Kim Penrod, Teacher Team 14 Norma Thiese, Media Specialist Team 15 Deborah Johnson, Teacher Team 16 Mary Reiman, Media Specialist WEST Gail Desler, Teacher Team 18 Margaret Tobias, Media Specialist Team 19 Nanci Douglas, Teacher Team 20 Sister Margaret Kennedy, Teacher Team 21 Donna Levene, Media Specialist Team 22 Steve Davidson, Media Specialist NORTHWEST Margaret Habecker Bates, Teacher Team 24 Micki Caskey, Teacher Team 25 Marla Johnson, Media Specialist # # # PR 99-066 |
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