COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO University of Colorado at Colorado Springs faculty will play a role in making 100 years of African-American history come alive in classrooms across the nation this winter.
Working in collaboration with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) and with a grant from Farmer’s Insurance Group, faculty from the UCCS College of Education will create teacher lesson plans and assist in the production of a classroom documentary DVD about African-American history. The project’s goal is to improve teaching of African-American history with a debut scheduled to coincide with the Feb. 2006 national celebration of Black History Month.
Called “Freedom’s Song, 100 Years of African American Struggle and Triumph,” the project will chronicle each decade of the 20th Century and highlight a single high-profile event. The UCCS faculty will develop lesson plans to accompany the documentary on such topics as the Tuskegee Airmen, Brown v. Topeka (Kan.) Board of Education, Jesse Jackson’s Presidential Campaign and the Million Man March. When completed, the DVD and the lesson plans will be distributed to teachers from coast-to-coast without charge.
“This is an exciting opportunity for UCCS faculty,” La Vonne I. Neal, dean, College of Education, said. “This is an area where I believe we can have great impact on the classrooms of our community, of our region, our state and our nation and improve understanding of the role that African-Americans have played in our nation’s history.”
A five-member team has spent the summer developing lesson plans directed at middle and high-school teachers to accompany the documentary. To assist the project, ASALH has provided $15,000 in grant funds. Those faculty members working with Neal include Julie Armentrout, assistant professor, Education; Clint Fisher, assistant professor, Education; Rhonda Williams, assistant professor, Education; and Elaine Cheesman, assistant professor, Education.
Founded in 1915 by educator Dr. Carter G. Woodson, ASALH is one of the most respected African American educational organizations in the nation and is credited with beginning Negro History Week, which is now celebrated as Black History Month. For more information about ASALH, visit www.asalh.org.
Farmers Insurance Group is one of the largest auto and homeowners insurance companies in the nation and has a long history of assisting in the creation of high-quality educational programs and providing them without charge to educators.
UCCS, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in northeast Colorado Springs, is the fastest growing university in Colorado and one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The university offers 25 bachelor’s degrees, 17 master’s and two doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 7,800 students annually.