Summer vacation is a time to learn for some area teachers with Summer Teacher Institutes at Harpers Ferry National Historic Parks.  The first of the workshops, “John Brown: The Road to Harpers Ferry,” started Monday and focuses on the people and events involved in that era in time for the 150 anniversary of the raid being celebrated next year.Chief Historian of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park Dennis Frye says the participants will be immersed in what he calls one of the most complex and controversial periods in American History.  He explains that through preservation of documents, diaries and other resources associated with John Brown, teachers participating will gain a real understanding of what transpired they can take back into their classrooms in the fall. An institute titled “Bridging the Watershed” is being offered in July for high school science teachers.  This institute is held every year and focuses on the Potomac River’s relationship to the Chesapeake Bay.Frye says both institutes immerse teachers in the subject matter and will help them make the topics more interesting for students, as well as offer participating teachers a chance to take their classes to a national park later this year.Teachers interested in the watershed institute coming up July 7^th and running through July 11 may fill out an online application at www.fergusonsoundation.org/btw/training.html.

Categories: Local News
Tags: education, Harpers Ferry, History, John Brown, National park, teacehrs, West Virginia