"Life, Liberty, and Opportunity: The Struggle for Freedom in Tidewater Maryland, 1634-1865"

June 19-24 and June 26-July 1, 2005

A National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Landmarks of American History Program

Selection of the Participants/Application

 The Landmarks of American History workshops are designed principally for classroom teachers K-12. We expect the themes of these workshops to be particularly appealing to teachers at grade levels 7-12 with undergraduate and graduate training in American history. Teachers at lower grade levels, as well as administrators, substitute teachers, classroom professionals, and librarians, are also encouraged to participate.

NEH LANDMARKS OF AMERICAN HISTORY:

WORKSHOPS FOR SCHOOLTEACHERS

APPLICATION INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

Landmarks of American History Workshops are offered by the National Endowment for the Humanities to provide K-12 educators with the opportunity to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics and issues in American history, while providing them with direct experiences in the interpretation of significant historical sites and the use of archival and other primary historical evidence. 

Landmarks Workshops will allow 40-50 teachers at a time to collaborate with core faculty and visiting scholars.  The Workshops are designed to present the best available scholarship on a specific landmark or related cluster of landmarks, while enabling participants to gain a sense of the importance of historical places, to make connections between the Workshop content and what they teach, and to develop enhanced teaching materials for their classrooms.       

ELIGIBILITY

These projects are designed principally for classroom teachers in public, private, parochial, and charter schools, as well as home schooling parents.  Other K-12 school personnel, including administrators, substitute teachers, classroom paraprofessionals, and librarians, are eligible to participate, subject to available space.  

Teachers at schools in the United States or its territorial possessions or Americans teaching in foreign schools where at least 50 percent of the students are American nationals are eligible for this program.  Applicants must be United States citizens, residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals who have been residing in the United States or its territories for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline.  Foreign nationals teaching abroad are not eligible to apply.

Applicants must complete the NEH application cover sheet and provide all of the information requested below to be considered eligible.  An individual may apply to and participate in no more than two Landmarks projects. 

SELECTION CRITERIA

A selection committee will read and evaluate all properly completed applications.  Special consideration is given to the likelihood that an applicant will benefit professionally and personally from the Workshop experience.  It is important, therefore, to address each of the following factors in preparing the application essay:

·        your professional background and interest in the subject of the Workshop;

·        your special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the Workshop; and

·        how the experience would enhance your teaching or school service.

STIPEND, TENURE, AND CONDITIONS OF AWARD

Teachers selected to participate will receive a stipend of $500.  Stipends are intended to help cover travel expenses to and from the Workshop location, books, and ordinary living expenses.  Stipends are taxable.  Travel supplements for those traveling long distances will be available but will be allocated after participants are selected, on a case-by-case basis, at the time of the workshop or shortly thereafter.

Workshop participants are required to attend all scheduled meetings and to engage fully in all project activities.  Participants who, for any reason, do not complete the full tenure of the project must refund a pro-rata portion of their stipend.

Participants will provide NEH with an assessment of their Workshop experience, especially in terms of its value to their personal and professional development.  You will be asked to provide a confidential evaluation at the close of the Workshop.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

This application packet should contain a letter from the project director describing in detail the content of the Workshop, the institutional setting, what is expected of participants, and specific provisions for lodging and subsistence. If you do not have such a letter, please request one from the project director before you attempt to compete and submit your application.  All application materials should be sent to the project director:

Zach Messitte

Center for the Study of Democracy

St. Mary's College of Maryland

18952 E. Fisher Rd.

St. Mary's City, Maryland 20686

Sending application materials and reference letters to the Endowment will result in delay.  Please indicate on the application cover sheet your first and second choices of Workshop dates.   

CHECKLIST OF APPLICATION MATERIALS

The following items constitute a completed application:

            -  three copies of the completed application cover sheet,

            -  three copies of your résumé,

            -  three copies of an application essay (no longer than one double-spaced page) as

                        outlined below, and

-  one letter of recommendation (sent separately).

The Application Cover Sheet

The application cover sheet must be filled out on line at the NEH Landmarks web site address. Please fill it out on line as directed by the prompts.  When you are finished, print it out.  At that point you will be asked if you want to apply to another workshop.  If you do, follow the prompts and select another workshop and then print out the cover sheet for that workshop.      

Résumé

Please include a detailed résumé. 

The Application Essay

Special consideration will be given to applicants who demonstrate that they will benefit professionally and personally from the workshop experience. The application essay should be no more than one double‑spaced page.  The essay should answer the following questions:

1.      How will the workshop strengthen your effectiveness as a teacher?

2.      What is an example of curriculum work you have completed in the past?

3.      What qualities do you have that will contribute to the success of the workshop?

Reference Letter

Applicants should provide a letter of recommendation from their school principal, department head, district administrator, or home-schooling association president as appropriate.  It is helpful for referees to read a copy of the description of the project sent by the director and the application essay. It is the applicant's responsibility to ask the referee to send the recommendation letter directly to the project director and to make certain that the letter is mailed to arrive not more than one week after the deadline:  March 15, 2005.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

For those who wish to receive in-service/continuing education credit, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) will grant the workshop permission to offer a credit option. Applicants ought to indicate in their cover letters that they will seek credit. The program directors and master teachers will keep track of those individuals who want such credit, and submit them to MSDE when all requirements (attendance and final lesson plan project) are satisfied. Educators may receive one credit for every fifteen hours of workshop time. Participant must sign in and out of each day’s workshop and will receive an official transcript within 30 days of the program..

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS AND NOTIFICATION PROCEDURE

Completed applications should be submitted to the project director and should be postmarked no later than March 15, 2005.

Successful applicants will be notified of their selection by April 5, 2005, and they will have until April 20, 2005 to accept or decline the offer.  Applicants who will not be home during the notification period should provide an address and phone number where they can be reached.  No information concerning the status of an application will be available prior to the official notification period.  

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

Endowment programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age.  For further information, write to NEH Equal Opportunity Officer, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20506.  TDD:  202/606‑8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).