ISSUED: 18 December 2024
MEDIA CONTACT: Hans Fogle
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — An initiative through Shepherd University will create new resources for West Virginia studies.
Dr. Jason Allen, assistant professor of education, and Dr. Ben Bankhurst, director of Shepherd University’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities, received the Teaching with Primary Sources grant from Waynesburg State University and the Library of Congress.
The $21,000 will go towards establishing Shepherd University’s “Almost Heaven: A Collection of West Virginia Teaching Resources” project.
Allen said the project seeks to expand primary source materials available to West Virginia studies educators.
“The materials being developed are inquiry-based and are designed to develop a student’s critical thinking, questioning, and reasoning skills,” Allen said. “The funding will allow the project to bring secondary educators to the Shepherd campus and visit the archives of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education.”
Shepherd University, partnering with the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education, located on Shepherd’s campus, will host local educators for a two-day workshop centered on archive examination, discussion, and lesson preparation.
As part of the project, educators will conduct on-site workshops at the National Archives and Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
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