Good News About Polk County Public Schools

The 2011-2012 academic school year may be history for most people. But during the summer, some Polk County Public Schools history teachers are preparing for next year by taking advantage of opportunities for professional development.

Three teachers were selected to receive fellowships from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Haines City High Teacher Cassie Gibson and Frostproof Middle-Senior Teacher Deanna Jaroszeski will spend part of July at Columbia University in New York City studying “Women from the Colonial to the Modern Era and Lincoln and Emancipation.” Bartow Middle Teacher Samantha VanCamp will attend a summer seminar sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History being held in Philadelphia. The July seminar on “Race, Gender, and Nation in Civil War” will take place at the University of Pennsylvania. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization devoted to the improvement of history education. Each year the Institute offers support and resources to teachers. Through them the institution enhances the education of more than a million students.

The Truman Library Institute at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum selected Sam Scott, Bartow Middle teacher, to study “The Marshall Plan.” For more than 40 years, the Truman Library and the Truman Library Institute have worked together to fulfill the Truman Library’s commitment to research and education.

Mulberry High School Teacher Michelle Hubenschmidt will utilize the James Madison Fellowship to finish up her masters in history at Ashland University. Ashland University is located in Ashland, Ohio.

Other Acknowledgments:
Kathleen High Teacher Aaron Kowalski will travel to Atlanta in July to attend the National Endowment for the Humanities seminar entitled “The Problem of the Color Line: Atlanta Landmarks and Civil Rights History.”

Lake Gibson High Teacher Liza Thurmond will attend a National Endowment for the Humanities seminar in New York City entitled, “Empire City: New York from 1877 to 2001.”

Kathleen Middle Teacher Anne Stemmerman will attend a Florida Humanities Council seminar in Clewiston, Florida called “Tribal Traditions in the Modern World: The Seminole Tribe, Their Voices and Stories.”

In July, George Jenkins High Teacher Matt Townley will present two sessions at the AP Annual Conference in Orlando. One session is entitled, “Technology in the AP Class.” The other is a session for new AP Art History teachers.

Several teachers were selected by the College Board to read Advance Placement exams. Shing Woodall (Tenoroc High), Daniel Cribb (Mulberry High), Elizabeth Rasmussen (Ft. Meade Middle-Senior), and Jane Martinez (Lake Region High) are readers for AP Human Geography essays. Amy Drumb (Auburndale High) and Pat McLarty (Kathleen High) are readers for AP U.S. History.  Judy Joiner (Winter Haven High) is a reader for AP European History and Annette Hall (Winter Haven High) is a reader for AP Psychology. 

Bartow IB Teacher Theodore “Ted” Wright will spend three weeks studying Inca and Spanish history and culture in Peru and Bolivia.