BRI Helps Teacher Share Her Passion For Civics
<p>To put it in her own words, Lisa Allen is “passionate for all things civics.”</p>
<p>Her passion for civics education led Allen to discover the Bill of Rights Institute and to attend her first BRI workshop last summer in Milwaukee, Wis. Allen teaches political science and is an instructional coach at Deerfield High School in Deerfield, Ill., and she immersed herself in BRI’s <a href="https://billofrightsinstitute.org/curricula/being-an-american">Being an American curriculum</a> at the workshop.</p>
<p>“It was stated during the workshop that one of the goals was to enhance our knowledge and teaching strategies,” Allen said. “I felt like both those goals shared our mission, and I felt like BRI really speaks to me and defines so much of what I try to do in my career.”</p>
<p>The workshop covered several topics, including colonialism and the Cold War. Allen appreciated BRI’s honesty in teaching where America lived up to its ideals and where it fell short, as well as BRI’s mission of teaching civics and equipping students and teachers to live the ideals of a free and just society.</p>
<p>“I felt like this is my place, and these are my people,” Allen said.</p>
<p>Allen uses other BRI resources in her classroom, including the <a href="https://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/curricula/heroes-villains">Heroes and Villains</a> and <a href="https://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/curricula/supreme-court-document-based-questions">Supreme Court DBQs</a> curricula. She continues searching the BRI website for additional resources for her classroom and enjoys the comprehensive subject matter BRI provides.</p>
<p>“I found with other resources, they were a little bit cookie-cutter, whereas BRI covers many different teaching styles,” Allen said. She added those various styles help address the challenge of keeping students engaged in the classroom following the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>Allen also introduced BRI’s Think The Vote campaign in her classroom to engage her students further. They can pick any issue from Think The Vote, use three resources to formulate their argument, and then present it in 2 minutes to their classmates.</p>
<p>“I previously taught political science starting from scratch,” Allen said. “Now, I couldn’t do that without BRI’s resources. I’m still exploring those resources and learning how to make those our own and find out what works best for my students.”</p>