Mississippi and Massachusetts Teachers 
Attend Summer Institute at George Washington’s Mount Vernon

   Twelve teachers from Mississippi and five from Massachusetts spent a week this summer attending the second annual George Washington Scholars Institute at his Mount Vernon Estate. Joining the teachers for this intensive week of study were the Center’s associate director, Ann Abadie, Mississippi Department of Education Social Studies Specialist Wendy Clemons, and Lynn Crosby Gammill, of Hattiesburg, a member of the Center’s executive council and Vice Regent for Mississippi on the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest historical preservation organization in the country.

   The institute covered topics ranging from Washington’s life as a surveyor, military man, president, and farmer to images of him in art over two centuries. Speakers included such noted Washington scholars as General Dave Palmer, author of First in War, and Dorothy Twohig, former editor of The Papers of George Washington. Participants lived on the 500-acre estate and had full access to Mount Vernon’s extensive library collection, met with Mount Vernon historians, curators, and educators, visited related sites in the surrounding area, and attended workshops about archaeology, slavery, and historic role playing.

   The teachers returned home to prepare a lesson plan on George Washington that will be published and distributed to teachers across the nation in cooperation with the National Honor Society. Participants are also conducting in-service training in their home school districts.

   Funding for the annual George Washington Scholars Institute is provided separately for each state through foundation support. Mississippi teachers receive funding for the program through the Phil Hardin Foundation of Meridian, and Massachusetts teachers are funded through an anonymous endowment.

   The institute will again be offered in the summer of 2001. Teachers interested in participating should contact Wendy Clemons of the Mississippi Department of Education at 601-359-3778 or Deborah Walker of the Massachusetts Department of Education at 781-338-3347.