Y'all know I do a bit of traveling when I can to get some professional development in government. In each case, I have met someone who is passionate about We the People. I am talking impressive, fanatically dedicated educators who firmly believe this program is the way to go. I have friends who are active in the Virginia We the People program, which is heavily sponsored by the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier. Ross and Alex, I am talking about you. Ross has finally convinced me to do a week-long seminar put on by the ever gracious and infinitely supportive Center, and I intend on leaning into my ever expanding network of awesomeness as I attempt to fly. Ross and Alex will be prominently featured in future discussions of my experience with WTP. I guess there was one other conversation that really did me in for WTP, which brings me to the following introduction. This spring I met someone who participates as an educator in the program, but also can attest to the experience as a student. She is Trish Everett of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She and I bonded one night over a particularly amazing meal at the King's Arms Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia midway through our Liberty Fund/Ashbrook Center seminar in March of this past year... and I convinced her she had to share this experience out with whomever would listen. I am so excited to have my second guest writer on LovGov. And with this as the background, I am going to turn it over to Trish. Why We the People?I come from good, solid nerd stock. Growing up, I tended to plow through books the way some folks go through tissues. As an adult, I literally wear a pendant with a picture of the US Constitution on it, and have done so every day for the last 3 years or so. But in the ultimate nature-nurture debate, I’ve gotta ask, “How did I get here?” Sure, we had more bookshelves than closets in my childhood home, and my first classroom decoration style was once described as looking like Uncle Sam threw up, but somewhere along the way something must have flipped the switch, directing my enthusiasm toward all things Americana and political. Not everyone can pinpoint the catalyst for their professional aspirations, but I am one of the lucky few.
At the end of 11th grade, I made a decision to take the Competitive Gov/Law class to satisfy my civics graduation requirement, and it changed everything. I already knew I wanted to be a teacher, probably of Social Studies, as my Interdisciplinary American History and Literature class has shown me the year before. But when I got a letter over the summer before my senior year inviting me to the teacher’s house for a BBQ, it occurred to me that this was already unlike any course I had previously encountered. My first memories of the We the People The Citizens and the Constitution Program included the smell of burgers on the grill, on a warm Indiana summer afternoon, sitting on my instructor's driveway with his toddler climbing on my lap, and literally. Drinking. Kool-Aid.
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Jen's bookshelf: nerdcation
I want to start by thanking Mr. Snowden and Mr. Greenwald for their uncompromising dedication to giving the NSA violations air time and transparency.
I wanted to share some of the most important things I have learned from this book bef...
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nerdcation
tagged:
nerdcation and to-read
tagged:
nerdcation and to-read
tagged:
nerdcation and to-read
AuthorI lovgov. LOVE IT! I love teaching government, learning about it, debating, discussing, asking questions about government. And not the standard boiler plate questions, but the hard ones that are NOT in the books. Archives
August 2018
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