BRI Enjoys A Busy Summer
Educators are starting their preparations for the 2025-26 school year. The Bill of Rights Institute is hard at work this summer, providing workshops and professional development to help teachers deepen their civic education knowledge for the new year.
BRI staff held sessions throughout June, including a tour of the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing that was part of a day-long seminar on the Declaration of Independence. Lori Rech, BRI’s regional manager of programs, also presented BRI’s Government and Politics: Civics for the American Experiment curriculum with guest speaker Dr. Jordan Cash, an assistant professor at Michigan State University.
“Today, I learned new strategies for increasing student engagement through active learning techniques that can be adapted for various grade levels and content areas,” said one teacher who attended the event. “One approach that stood out to me was incorporating more student choice and movement into lessons to boost participation and retention. I plan to implement these strategies in my classroom to foster a more interactive and student-centered learning environment.”
As part of BRI’s ongoing series with Founding Forward, the Institute presented twice in Valley Forge, Pa., on philosophical influences on our nation’s founding and the Constitutional Covenant. Nearly 90 teachers participated in both sessions, with one teacher noting that they teach Spanish and still felt connected to BRI’s presentation.
“I teach cultural content in Spanish, so there are many applications,” the teacher said.
BRI also continued state standards alignment workshops in Kansas with Joe Schmidt, senior director of programs, and Shawn McCusker, senior manager of program partnerships. They held discussions and work groups with teachers who attended the workshops and solicited their expertise to ensure their lessons aligned with Kansas state standards for civics education.
“The playlist function could be very effective,” said one teacher who attended the workshop. “I plan to play around with it more this summer to find ways to make it useful in my classroom.”
Schmidt also presented at the Metroplex Social Studies Conference in Richardson, Tex., last month and discussed BRI’s Government and Politics resource and how to introduce civic learning to students through the use of political cartoons.
“I enjoyed how the concepts were broken down in language I could use with my students,” said one teacher who attended the presentation.
BRI also launched a 3-part professional development series for 20 North Dakota teachers and held a virtual orientation on June 25. The next program will be held on Wednesday, July 23, and BRI began the month of July with a Valley Forge workshop and presenting at the annual Sphere Summit in Washington, D.C.
Chris Janson, BRI’s senior project lead for civic learning initiatives, introduced BRI’s “Party Favors” game to 80 educators. One teacher described the presentation as “awesome and engaging” and said it “gave me an idea [of] how I can teach the lessons through games.”
Visit the Events page on BRI’s website for more information on upcoming workshops and presentations.