The Fifth Annual Teacher Institute of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education

Upcoming Workshops

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, all 2020 Teacher Institute Workshops are being conducted virtually through Zoom.

Please join us for our next workshop on Saturdays, October 17 and 24, 2020 from 9:00 am until 12:30 pm. Participants must attend both workshops to receive EDPD credit. 

Register for a session today by contacting Karen Rice
(304) 876-5135
​krice@shepherd.edu
Institute Coordinators: 
Jay Wyatt - Director, Byrd Center
Charles Flanagan - Director of Outreach, Center for Legislative Archives (NARA)
Jody Brumage - Archivist / Office Manager, Byrd Center 
Program Description:
 
The teacher institutes will train West Virginia educators to teach about Congress and the Constitution in historically significant “critical moments” of American History. Day I will center on congressional and societal debates about securing and preserving rights for Americans via workshops focusing on the Federalist/Anti-Federalist debates of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court decision of 1857 and the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, and congressional efforts to secure Americans’ economic rights during the Great Depression through the New Deal. Day II will cover Congress’ role in shaping American foreign policy and include workshops centering on America’s emergence as a global power between the 1890s and 1920s, the Senate’s role in the international treaty-making process, and Congress’ war-making powers.
Cost: $177
Free for the first 36 registrants

2020 Teacher Institute Resources:

Teaching About Constitutional Rights
African American Civil Rights: The Reconstruction Era
“Necessitous Men Are Not Free Men” FDR, Congress, and Rights during the Great Depression
Neutrality, Internationalism, Isolationism, and World Leadership: 1914-1941
“Crossroads in History:” The Senate Debates the Panama Canal Treaties
The Power to Make War: The War on Terror

About the Teacher Institute:

The Teacher Institute was created in 2016 as a new Byrd Center initiative to provide professional development to grades 6-12 educators about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Congress' constitutional role, and the legislative process. The Institute is facilitated by the Byrd Center and presented through a partnership with Shepherd University and the Center for Legislative Archives [NARA], bringing experts in teaching about the U.S. Congress and Constitution together with educators from around West Virginia for day-long seminars exploring lesson plans and resources to implement in the classroom. Through our partnership with the Center for Legislative Archives, we are able to access a wealth of resources from our national archives and demonstrate how they can be used in the classroom to facilitate vital instruction on the core tenants of the American government. The Byrd Center's own archives help to supplement these resources and allow us to develop lesson plan guides with a West Virginia focus through the congressional collections that we preserve. Our third annual Teacher Institute went on the road, with workshops conducted in Charleston, Lewisburg, Morgantown, Shepherdstown, and Martinsburg. 

The Teacher Institute is supported by the West Virginia Humanities Council, Shepherd University's Office of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, and the Friends of the Byrd Center.

Past Institutes:

2019 - Teaching about Congress and the Constitution in Four Periods of American History

2018 - Congress, U.S. Constitution, and Representative Government ​

2017 - Teaching about What Congress Does and How it Works 

2016 - Teaching about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Representative Government