Session 1:
How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation

Our first session is  with E.D. Hirsch, founder of Core Knowledge Foundation, who will discuss his new book How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation. We hope we can work with you to expose more teachers to his wisdom.

Session 2: Constituting America

We welcomed Constituting America Founder and Co-President Janine Turner to present the programs and resources made by students and for students available for free to educate Americans about the Constitution and the rights and liberties it provides and protects for all of us. Learn about their George Washington Speaking Initiative, now utilizing various Internet Platforms featuring Janine Turner, and We the Future student contest winners to conduct virtual classroom presentations promoting constitutional education!

Session 3: A Civics Roadmap for Frontline Educators

In the midst of the current civil unrest and political divisions, how can we equip schools and teachers with the tools to reach and teach students about America’s founding principles? This discussion, moderated by Ian Rowe, features leaders from major national organizations focussed on the improvement of civics education and leadership.

Session 5:
Finding Hope in America’s Story During Troubled Times
with the Ashbrook Center

Deep political differences. Economic disruption. Civil unrest. A sense that America may be coming apart. 2020? Actually, the year was 1786, the start of Shay’s Rebellion, a tax revolt. America was only ten years old, but already some people were saying that our “experiment” in self-government, as James Madison called it, had failed. Fourteen years later, in 1800, America experienced one of the nastiest and most divisive elections in our history. Again, many people wondered if America could survive.

How did we not only survive but thrive? How do the lessons of America’s history give us hope despite the continuing challenges of the pandemic, a divisive election, and social unrest? We explore this topic through video, live discussion and audience questions!

Session 6:
Understanding Presidential Elections With a Special Nod to Veterans!

With a divisive election time challenging our nation, many educators are uncertain how to instruct on so many difficult questions. Yet this is a learning opportunity in so many ways! And what better time to help students learn where the complicated processes come from and how to process the outcomes than Veterans Day, the day we honor those who protect the very rights we have which allows us to exercise our freedoms!

Join us for a lively discussion on the history of close elections, why the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College and how the Constitution is prepared even for a tie with: Alexander Hamilton, who served as the aide de camp to General Washington; James Madison, the Father of the US Constitution; and Kerry Sautner, Chief Learning Officer at the National Constitution Center, and many more surprises!

Session 7:
Teaching America’s Founding Narrative at Plymouth Rock

Who were the Pilgrims? Why did they come? For over 400 years we have celebrated Thanksgiving, but understanding its origins and how it foresaw the beginnings of peaceful assembly and our First Amendment rights is critical to any understanding of US history. Why America? explores these questions
via video direct from where the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth, live discussion including teacher tools to inspire students, plus your questions answered!

Historical interpreters and experts on the ground at Plymouth Rock will address the Mayflower Compact and why Thanksgiving is more a celebration of America and its founding purpose than simply a feast.

Session 8:
A Revolutionary Christmas

On Christmas Day 1776, General George Washington’s army crossed the icy Delaware River, and over the next 10 days helped turn the tide of the American War for Independence.

Join General Washington and Private Edward “Ned” Hector, a free black man serving in the Third Pennsylvania Artillery Company, for a discussion of this great victory, and the subsequent defeats at Brandywine & Germantown, where Private Hector was noted for his courage, while also exploring why Black soldiers would fight for the patriot side

Session 9:
Presidential Inaugurations: I Do Solemnly Swear

The Transition of Power in Our Republic

Teacher Resources, Lesson Plans and Interesting Inaugural Facts provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Inaugural Stories from Our First Three Ladies Who Set the Standard for Years to Come!

Session 10:
Mount Rushmore Live! A Celebration of Presidents’ Day

Meet some of the greatest U.S. presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, learn about the history of Presidents’ Day and learn more about each president’s greatest struggle and greatest accomplishments.

Session 11:
Women’s Vote at 100: Suffragists in Their Own Words

Celebrate Women’s History Month, hear from leading suffragists and learn about their historic achievement in winning the 19th Amendment (even during a pandemic!)