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Rockingham County Schools News Release • September 5, 2023 • S. Gladieux
(Rockingham County, NC) – The National Council for History Education (NCHE) is delighted to announce that Valencia Abbott, teacher at Rockingham Early College High School, is a participate of the 2022-2023 Rural Experience in America, Community Civics through Historical Inquiry, project funded by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium.
Valencia Abbott was selected from a nationwide applicant pool to take part in this professional learning and work alongside historians to design works of public value to help her students examine the following questions: What is rural America? How have rural places shaped the history of the nation? Whose stories are told? How has US rural and agricultural history shaped my community?
Ms. Abbott embarked on Year 2 of this project in December of 2022 and served as a lead teacher mentoring other teachers through two asynchronous, online learning courses entitled, “TPS Basics Course” sponsored by the Library of Congress and “Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Primary Source Questions” guided by the Right Question Institute. Both courses focused on using primary sources through the Library of Congress collections.
The second phase of this project involved the teachers participating in three, synchronous, online professional learning opportunities in which they learned from a historian, educational specialist, and master teacher first-hand to examine rural lives in context.
The third phase of this project took place July 15 – 16, 2023 in Norman, Oklahoma. Teachers travelled to the University of Oklahoma with a community partner from their hometown to work alongside a public historian to create a public history project to be implemented with their students during this school year. Participating teachers receive stipends to help cover their travel expenses and implement their public history project.
Founded in 1990, the National Council for History Education has worked to promote excellence in K-12 and college-level history education. This nonprofit organization supports the teaching, learning, and appreciation of diverse histories through advocacy, sponsoring workshops that connect teachers and professors, and by producing resources for classroom use. Learn more at www.ncheteach.org.
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