Changing the course of history

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June 28, 2007

Brian Messenger

They say those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Andover students may soon have a leg up on the competition.

A nearly $1 million federal grant secured by the Andover school district will provide three years of professional development for history teachers in Andover and six other school districts. The grants are meant to help teachers offer improved history lessons that focus on American leaders.

More than 20,000 students in the seven districts will reap the benefits of the $992,697 grant.

Workshops will begin this fall, expanding teachers' knowledge of U.S. history for instructors teaching grades 5 through 11.

School Committee member Dick Collins, who taught American history at Andover High School for 37 years, said the opportunity for Andover history teachers will directly improve instruction in high school and middle school classrooms.

"As a history teacher, I am absolutely thrilled with it," said Collins. "This is going to be very valuable."

The grant, part of a $116 million nationwide program called the Teaching American History program, will also benefit students and teachers within the Lawrence, Methuen, Hamilton-Wenham, Tyngsborough, Greater Lowell Technical High School, and Innovation Academy Charter school districts.

The money was secured in large part by the work of Andover Public Schools Grant Coordinator Lisa Glickstein, who is ending her first year with the district. A privately funded group, Andover Coalition for Education, made a two-year commitment to pay Glickstein's $45,000 part-time salary.

The news that Andover would receive the money surprised even Superintendent Claudia Bach, who believes the town received the grant because it is partnering with the other systems, some of which are considered to be performing poorly.

"We thought we'd go, we'd fail, we'd learn why," said Bach. "It's really a coup for Lisa. We're very excited."

"This is really big," said Andover Assistant Superintendent Marcia O'Neil. "The size of the grant, the collaboration amongst the districts, it's a feather on the cap for the ACE foundation."

ACE President Tina Girdwood said she was pleased with Andover receiving the grant, and hoped the Andover Public Schools would decide to keep the grant coordinator permanently.

"We're thrilled," said Girdwood. "In tight, difficult budget times, when the administrators are often unable to fund new programming or changes to programming ... we really believed that Andover needed to give it a try."

Glickstein, who started working for the town last June, is an Andover resident with children in the public schools.

"I can't say how fortunate and lucky we are to have her with us," said Collins. "She's been a great addition to our school system."

Teacher's Union President Tom Meyers, a social studies teacher at Andover High School, said having a well-established staff development program in Andover helped the district secure the grant.

"I think it's an excellent opportunity to really do a lot of curriculum work," said Meyers. "The mechanism to begin this is already in place."

Andover will have two teachers at the high school responsible for coordinating the workshops between districts, according to O'Neil.

Planning for the workshops will begin this summer.

"Andover is the lead district on this," said O'Neil. "We'll be doing the outreach, in terms of organization."

"There will be so much collaboration," said Girdwood. "I can't wait to see how this plays out."