Drawing Inspiration From Our History

Forward

We begin this newsletter with continued best wishes to all of you and your families for safety and health during these difficult times.

Our nation has faced numerous crises throughout its history, although none quite like this one. We believe it's possible to look to the past for lessons on how to persevere through tough times and tackle any challenge whether it be disease, war, injustice, natural disaster, or economic difficulty. One of the common themes we see is citizens coming together as a community across geographic and partisan lines to confront these challenges together. We have highlighted just a few lessons below around this theme.

Introducing: BRIght and Early

BRI is hosting a brand new web series for your students! Each 20-minute episode is designed to provide historical context, anchors, primary source discussions and activities for your students to do from home. The wide-ranging conversations can be continued or stand alone as resources for your students. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday!

Our Last 10th Period Webinar was great! Join the conversation on YouTube.

Last week we hosted a dynamic conversation on "America's Response to Crisis: What We Can Learn from the Past and How To Look Ahead" We would love your thoughts! Head to our YouTube channel to join the conversation.

BRI Lessons & Resources

National Government, Crisis, and Civil Liberties
How do we make sure that our personal liberties remain protected during a crisis while preserving national security and public safety? This unit from Documents of Freedom highlights examples from U.S. History...Read More.

Responsibility: A Necessary Civic Virtue in a Crisis
By examining the actions of Dwight D. Eisenhower in World War II and the life and work of Frederick Douglass, students will learn about the civic virtue of responsibility and its importance during difficult times.

What Do Courage and Self Sacrifice Look Like?
Self Sacrifice and Courage often go hand in hand and our American Portraits resource provides numerous inspiring examples from history, including Washington's Choice: Crossing of the Delaware, We Are Not Afraid and We Shall Overcome: The Freedom Riders, Loyal American: Fred Korematsu, and Self-Sacrifice in a Firehouse on 9/11.

BRI News and Other Opportunities

AP Prep Webinars To Continue
We are keeping a close eye on the changes to the AP exam format this year, and we have adjusted our webinar topics accordingly. The AP Preparedness series continues with a live broadcast tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET with Tom Richey. Visit the website to view recordings of completed webinars, and register for upcoming webinars.

Think the Vote Debate: Who Decides School Closings?
Please encourage your students to join in the latest debate on Think the Vote. The current topic: Should state governments determine whether schools should close for the rest of the year? The students who make the strongest case for their position and their referring teachers win a gift card and swag, and a chance at a $1000 scholarship.

We the Students Deadline is in Two Weeks
Please remind your students that the deadline for the We the Students Essay Contest is on April 15. $19,000 in scholarship funds including a $7500 grand prize will be awarded to fourteen students.

Documents of Freedom: History, Government and Economics through Primary Sources

BRI's Free, Digital, Online Textbook
Documents of Freedom is a modern take on the traditional textbook:

Completely free
Written for teachers by teachers
Focused on primary sources
All materials meet standards
Search by topic
Accessible everywhere

Explore the contents of the whole course here.

Current Events & eLessons

Updated Weekly

BRI produces eLessons bi-weekly and then updates links to current events and news every couple of days.

Educator Spotlight

Meet Michael Sandstrom!
Michael Sandstrom teaches American History, Advanced Placement U.S. History, World History, and Civics in Chadron, Nebraska. He has been teaching for seven years and holds a Bachelors of Science in Social Science Secondary Education and a Masters of Arts in Education in History from Chadron State College. He is currently working on a Masters of Arts in American History from Pace University and plans to finish this May...Read More.

BoE: Bottom of Email

Dear John,

I always felt an acute sense of duty to the many communities I was a part of as a classroom teacher: my town, my school, my department, my teams, my clubs. They all deserved my attention and energy. And I was happy to give it!

As I have been watching teachers across the country come together to shift to online instruction, I feel honored to be a part of the community of BRI teachers. Teachers are doing amazing things to support their students and schools; it is so inspiring to play a small part in supporting them! (Did you see this letter from an administrator in NC? So good!)

In the coming weeks, BRI has new programs and initiatives that will launch to even better support and honor you and the hard work you are doing. In the mean time, we would love to hear more about what your needs are from your history and civics community. Reach out on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter! We would love to hear from you.

Stay strong. You got this. We can help.

Rachel Davison Humphries
Director, Outreach

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