Media Specialist Attends American History Workshop in Massachusetts
Mary B. Ries, media specialist at Sara Collins Elementary School, recently attended the Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). NEH is a federal agency that supports summer study opportunities so that teachers can work with experts in humanities disciplines.
Ms. Ries participated in a workshop entitled, “Sailing to Freedom: New Bedford and the Underground Railroad.” This week-long Workshop for Teachers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth focused on the national influence of New Bedford, Massachusetts within the nineteenth-century abolitionist movement, the town’s unique role in the Underground Railroad, the development of its dynamic, prosperous African-American community and its maritime history and culture. She received a $1,200 stipend to help cover her travel, study, and living expenses. The approximately 1,680 teachers who will participate in these studies will teach more than 210,000 American students this fall.