BRI Heads to Nashville to Support Social Studies Educators

<p>The Bill of Rights Institute has been traveling the nation this semester supporting America’s civics and history teachers and students.&nbsp;</p>

<p>What better way to close out 2023 than at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference?&nbsp;</p>

<p>BRI staff were on hand to support educators and administrators at the NCSS conference, which ran from December 1-3 in Nashville, TN. It was attended by more than 3,500 social studies educators.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Before the conference kicked off, BRI hosted a special evening event for members of the Council of State Social Studies Specialists (CS4), an organization representing state-level social studies specialists, consultants, and supervisors.&nbsp;</p>

<p>CS4 members were treated to an educational program at the Nashville Public Library, where they learned about the city’s civil rights history, efforts to achieve voting rights for women, and BRI resources.&nbsp;</p>

<p>David Plazas, founder of Civility Tennessee and the Opinion and Engagement Director for the USA TODAY Network newsrooms in Tennessee, discussed the importance of teaching civil discourse in the event’s keynote address.&nbsp;</p>

<p>At the NCSS conference, BRI staff demonstrated Institute resources and provided information on programs like BRI’s national civic engagement contest MyImpact Challenge.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BRI team also delivered in-booth and conference-sponsored educational sessions on teaching hard history; MyImpact Challenge; civic virtues; elementary education; teaching U.S. Supreme Court DBQs; civil discourse; and more.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For Rachel Davison Humphries, BRI’s Sr. Director of Civic Learning Initiatives, the NCSS conference is an opportunity for the organization to introduce educators to BRI resources and affirm its commitment to providing them with world-class support.&nbsp;</p>

<p>“We are proud to support our nation’s civics and history teachers, who are working hard every day to ensure students have the quality education they need,” she said. “The NCSS conference was an excellent opportunity to provide educators with quality resources and professional development they can bring back to classrooms across America.”</p>