Published: June 15, 2009 09:05 pm      

BC teacher participates in institute

Cheryl Royal of Bridge City joined outstanding teachers from across the state last week at “The U.S. Const-itution and Amer-ican History,” an institute sponsored by Humanities Texas, The University of Texas at Austin and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.

“I was pointed to many valuable resources that will be workable in my classroom,” said Royal, who teaches A.P. and U.S. history and Psychology at Bridge City High School.

“The U.S. Constitution and American History” drew 43 teachers to the LBJ Library and Museum for four days of seminars, lectures and workshops. Ten of the participants were nominated by their U.S. Congressional representatives.

“Humanities Texas was delighted to cosponsor 'The U.S. Constitution and American History,'” said Executive Director Michael L. Gillette. “Giving a talented teacher like Ms. Royal the opportunity to interact with her peers and leading scholars will enable her to engage students with exciting new perspectives on our nation's history.

The institute faculty included prominent scholars such as H. W. Brands, Albert S. Broussard, George Forgie, Sanford Levinson, Gretchen Ritter and Pulitzer-Prize-winning historians Jack Rakove and David Oshinsky.

An educational specialist from the National Archives and Records Administration also served on the institute faculty and provided participants with facsimiles of historic documents that support the teaching of U.S. history and government.

“The U.S. Constitution and American History” institutes were made possible with a We the People grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and additional support from the Houston Endowment.

The state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities Texas develops and supports programs across the state, including lectures, oral history projects, teacher institutes, museum exhibitions and documentary films.

For more information about Humanities Texas and “The U.S. Constitution and American History,” visit http://www.humanitiestexas.org.