DID YOU KNOW? CSPM partners with Colorado Geographic Alliance During the week of June 20, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum (CSPM) partnered with the Colorado Geographic Alliance (COGA) to present a three-day workshop for local educators. The workshop included an exciting variety of presenters who focused on local history, geography and the use of primary sources. The presenters included Leah Davis Witherow, CSPM Curator of History, David Diggs and Phil Klein, UNC Professors, John Harner, UCCS Geography Professor, Keith Patterson “Teaching with Primary Sources” Representative and Steve Jennings, UCCS Associate Professor. Rebecca Theobald, UCCS Assistant Research Professor and COGA Facilitator commented, “Holding professional development workshops at a partner’s location, like the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, makes a big difference to how teachers approach a subject. The Colorado Geographic Alliance is very excited to be able to extend the maps from the Story of Us project to educators across the region.” Leah Davis Witherow, CSPM Curator of History After exploring the museum and learning from regional experts, the teachers were tasked with developing lesson plans utilizing CSPM’s Story of Us exhibit. The lessons will structure ways to guide teachers to explore the exhibit’s online components, develop mapping exercises and create annotated resource sets. The final products of this workshop will be available to educators on the museum’s website at the end of the summer. “The gift of time and resources is so great for teachers. We don’t often get this,” said Marni Zabel, Buena Vista Elementary teacher. “It’s also great to actually work with the individuals who designed the Story of Us project. The content of my lessons will be significantly better for my students because I’ve had the benefit of working with content experts.” CSPM is extremely excited about this partnership, and the opportunity to share the wealth of knowledge from The Story of Us exhibit and website with students and educators throughout the Pikes Peak region! PG. 4
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