The Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC) invites Virginia middle school teachers to help enhance civic readiness through its new Civics Ambassador Corps.
The group will pilot Civics Connects, a comprehensive, state-wide education program that covers all Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) for middle school civics and economics. The resource offers free lesson plans, classroom activities, access to experts and onsite educators, field trips to the VMHC and videos featuring Virginia middle school students serving as “civics investigators” who travel to places of historical significance around the state.
Civics Ambassadors will be critical in the implementation of Civic Connects by piloting and promoting the program, collecting and analyzing user data and conducting a professional development workshop for other education professionals at their school or district level. Each ambassador will receive a $5,000 honorarium for a one-year term.
“The Civics Ambassador Corps is a unique network of teachers who will directly impact civics education across the state by empowering other Virginia classroom teachers who are committed to ensuring students understand America’s democratic processes and principles,” Jamie O. Bosket, VMHC President & CEO, said. “Civics Connects is the first program of its kind and comes at an opportune time as the nation’s 250th anniversary approaches. Through this program, students across Virginia will discover the foundations of American government and learn skills to become active and informed citizens.”
The VMHC seeks Civics Ambassadors in each of Virginia’s superintendent’s regions: Central Virginia (1), Tidewater and Eastern Shore (2), Northern Neck (3), Northern Virginia and Middle Peninsula (4), Blue Ridge and Valley (5), Western Virginia (6), Southwest (7) and Southside (8). The program is open to current Virginia middle school civics, government, social studies and history teachers with at least three years of experience and a bachelor’s degree in education, history or a related field.
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture is owned and operated by the Virginia Historical Society, a private, non-profit organization established in 1831. The historical society is the oldest cultural organization in Virginia, and one of the oldest and most distinguished history organizations in the nation. For use in its state history museum and its renowned research library, the historical society cares for a collection of more than 9 million items representing the ever-evolving story of Virginia. The Virginia Museum of History & Culture is at 428 N Arthur Ashe Boulevard in Richmond’s Museum District.
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Rebecca Barnabi
