WASAH Project -- WI Academy for the Study of American History

Overview: In June 2007, CESA 6 received its second federal Teaching American History (TAH) grant award from the U.S. Dept. of Education, more than $998,000 for three years, to coordinate and deliver additional professional development programming to grade 4-12 teachers of U.S. history.  This new programming, entitled the WASAH Project, or the Wisconsin Academy for the Study of American History, is more expansive in scope than CESA 6's first TAH project, and targets teachers from school districts and private schools located within CESAs 6, 7 and 9. 

Targeted Teacher Participants: The WASAH Project has enrolled 52 history teachers to participate in program activities for 3 years, starting with the April 26, 2008 kickoff workshop at UW-Marathon County, and running through the conclusion of third-year project activities during the spring of 2011.  The WASAH Project specifically targets teachers of U.S. history and Wisconsin history in grades 4-12, as well as other social studies teachers, and other teachers (e.g., English and American Literature teachers) who extensively incorporate U.S. history themes into their curriculum.   

Upcoming Activities:  The 52 enrolled teaching scholars will attend the first annual summer institute, to be held on the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County campus.  The summer institute will take place from July 22-25th and again from July 28-30th, 2008.  In addition, an optional field trip is being offered to teachers during the weekend of July 25-27th up in the Ashland/Apostle Islands region, where teachers will attend presentations on Native American and French interpretations of "freedom," as compared to freedom as defined and implemented in the U.S. 

Furthermore, the enrolled teaching scholars will attend two full-day workshops, one during the fall of 2008 and the other during the early spring of 2009, plus two of six evening/Saturday seminars scheduled during the 2008-09 school year.

 WASAH Activities, Topics & Leadership Team

 WASAH Activities: Project activities for each year will include a 7-day summer academy in late July, site visit at historical content providers throughout the state, two full-day workshops and six half-day seminars throughout the subsequent school year.  (Participants must attend a minimum of two of those seminars.)  Activities and programming will include the following:

• April 26, 2008 -- Full Day Kickoff Workshop at UW-Marathon County  
• July 22-30, 2008 -- Summer Institute at UW-Marathon County.  Participants will attend sessions featuring content, use historical resource and use of instructional best practices.  Sessions will also include visits to historical archival sites.  At conclusion of institute, participants will select a lesson plan to work on and complete by April 2008.  Lesson plan will incorporate content, resource and instructional themes covered during the summer institute. 
• Fall 2008 Workshop -- Participants will attend one full-day workshop at UW-Marathon County that features content and instructional-based themes that complement topics covered during the summer institute.  Time of workshop to be announced later.
• Fall 2008 Seminars -- Three half-day seminars will be scheduled, covering content themes and providing a forum for discussing assigned readings.  Times and location of seminars will be announced later.  (Participants are required to attend a minimum of 2 half-day seminars during the 2008-09 school year.)    
• Spring 2009 Regional Workshops -- Participants will attend a second-full day workshop that again features content and instructional-based themes covered during the previous summer institute.  Regional workshop sites will be schedule within CESAs 6, 7 and 9 to minimize travel distance.  Other teachers from the regions will be invited to attend this workshop and learn about content, resource and instructional themes covered during the year.  Core participants will also share their lesson plans, work products, and best practice strategies with the other teachers.  Times and location of workshops to be announced later.
• Winter/Spring 2009 Seminars -- Three additional half-day seminars will be scheduled, again covering content themes and providing a forum for discussing assigned readings.  Times and location of seminars will be announced later.   
• Other Resources --  Core participants will also have opportunities to seek small group and one-on-one assistance from experienced teachers, historians, archivists, curators and curriculum specialists on the use of strategies for developing lesson plans and incorporating learner-based and project-based activities in the classroom that promote historical and critical thinking skills.
• Submission of Lesson Plan Project -- In late April 2008, participants will submit their complete lesson plans and portfolio narratives.  WASAH staff will ultimately post these lesson plans on the online website for sharing with other teachers.
• Year 2 -- Above cycle will repeat itself from July 2009 through April 2010
• Year 3 -- Above cycle will repeat itself from July 2010 through April 2011                                              

Listed below is a timeline table of WASAH project activities throughout the entire project period of April 2008 through May 2011.

WASAH Topics & Themes: The WASAH Project will feature U.S. history content themes and topics that focus around the unifying theme of "American freedom."  This theme was selected to promote the exploration and study of the many eras, events and persons comprising U.S. history through the perspectives of economic, political, social and religious freedom.  This project will help teacher participants and their students to better understand how various events, persons and activities defined, impacted, and expanded and restricted how and whether various American groups enjoyed freedom politically, economically, socially, and so on.  This approach will help all to make greater sense of the significance of our nation's history, how events or persons have affected various groups, and how seemingly unrelated events or eras are in fact connected.

Specific topics and themes for the Year 1 Summer Institute, workshops and seminars will be developed by WASAH leadership during the winter/spring 2008.  A sneek preview of potential Year 1 topics and themes can be found by clicking the link "Year 1 WASAH -- Potential Topics", found to the left as a sub-link to WASAH Project -- April 2008 to April 2011.   A preview of potential Year 2 and 3 topics and themes can be found by clicking links "Year 2 WASAH -- Potential Topics" and "Year 3 WASAH - Potential Topics", respectively.  Please note that these listed topics and themes are preliminary and tentative only; the final schedule of topics for upcoming summer institutes, workshops and seminars will include several changes and additions.  These initial preliminary summer institute schedules/themes were based on five-day long events; the WASAH Project will feature 7-day long summer institutes.

Project Partners: CESA 6 will partner with the history departments for UW-Oshkosh, UW-Marathon County and UW-Green Bay in the design, coordination and implementation of all project activities and services.  Those lead partners will also collaborate with the Wisconsin Historical Society, CESA 7, CESA 9, Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, Outagamie Museum in Appleton, the Marathon County Historical Society, other area museums and historical societies, and the Archives and Area Research Centers at UW-Oshkosh, UW-Green Bay and UW-Stevens Point in the delivery of project activities and resources. 

WASAH Project Leadership Team:

Mike Derr of CESA 6 is the K-12 Coordinator for the WASAH Project.  Mr. Derr served as the K-12 Coordinator for the Teachers Academy for the Study of American History (TASAH) TAH-funded grant project administered by CESA 6 and UW-Oshkosh from 2003 through June 2007.  Mr. Derr has compiled a long list of historians, historical resources and websites, content partners and other resources to be utilized and shared with classroom teachers in the WASAH project.  Mr. Derr has also served as a grant writer and educational program specialist with CESA 6 since 1999, where he has assisted school districts with program planning and securing grant funds for professional development, at-risk, technology, reading and literacy and other programming.  Prior to his employment with CESA 6, Mr. Derr managed federal juvenile justice and state gang diversion funds for the State of Wisconsin.

Brett Barker, UW-Marathon Assistant Professor of History, is the First Year Campus Coordinator for project activities (April 2008 through April 2009).  Dr. Barker has taught at UW-MC since 2002, and received his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001.  His research interests include the northern home front during the U.S. Civil War.  The University of Wisconsin Press has published his book, Exploring Civil War Wisconsin: A Survival Guide for Researchers in 2003.  For the past five years, he has managed the K-8 Marathon County History Teaching Alliance, and has conducted seminars for K-12 teachers on the Civil War and on the use of primary sources in the classroom.  Dr. Barker was assistant director of the Wausau School District and UW-Marathon County's Teaching American History grant project from 2001-04, and he frequently presented at CESA 6 and UW-Oshkosh's Teaching American History project from 2004-06. 

Jeffrey Pickron, UW-Oshkosh History Instructor, is the Second Year Campus Coordinator for project activities (July 2009 through April 2010), and is also the Lead University Coordinator throughout the entire grant project period.  Mr. Pickron has lectured with UW-Oshkosh since 2004 and was a frequent presenter for CESA 6 and UW-Oshkosh's TASAH programs in 2004-07.  His areas of research and expertise include 20th Century labor and political history, social movements in U.S. history, and the Great Depression.  In addition, he is also co-directing UW-Oshkosh's oral history project that features numerous personal accounts of local 1960s civil rights activities.  Mr. Pickron is presently pursuing his doctorate in History. 

David Voelker, UW-Green Bay Assistant Professor of Humanistic Studies and History, is the Third Year Campus Coordinator for project activities (July 2010 through April 2011).  Professor Voelker has taught courses at UW-Green Bay for the past four years, after earning his doctorate at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.  His expertise includes the American Revolution, Colonial and Early Republic eras, and religious and intellectual history.  Professor Voelker was a frequent presenter at CESA 6 and UW-Oshkosh's TASAH program. 

For more information about  WASAH, contact:

Mike Derr, K-12 Coordinator
WASAH Project
voice: 920/236-0875
fax: 920/485-0306
mobile: 920/210-6525
email: mderr@cesa6.k12.wi.us

Office and Mailing Address:
CESA 6 Horicon Regional Office
304 Ellison Street
Horicon, WI 53032

Jeffrey Pickron
Lead University Coordinator
WASAH Project
phone: 920/424-1409
email: pickronj@uwosh.edu

Office and Mailing Address:
UW-Oshkosh
Department of History
Clow Faculty Building, 800 Algoma Blvd.
Oshkosh, WI  54903