Local Educator Selected to Participate in National Educational Program Sponsored by Library of Congress

Stefanie Rosenberg Wager from Des Moines Public Schools in Des Moines, Iowa, has been selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants to participate in the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institute for the week of July 18-22, 2011. Rosenberg Wager is a curriculum coordinator for Des Moines Public Schools.

Each year, the Library of Congress provides the opportunity for a carefully chosen group of K-12 educators to attend one of its seven Teacher Institutes in Washington, D.C. During the five-day program, participants work with Library education specialists and subject matter experts to learn effective practices for using primary sources in the classroom, while exploring some of the millions of digitized historical artifacts and documents available on the Library’s website.

Educators attending the Teacher Institutes develop primary-source based teaching strategies that they can take back to their school districts, apply in the classroom, and pass along to colleagues. Teaching with primary sources is a powerful way to help students ask engaged, probing questions, develop critical thinking skills, and construct knowledge.

Applicants to the Summer Teacher Institutes reflect the diversity of the world of K-12 education. Participants in a Teacher Institute session typically include school library media specialists and school administrators in addition to classroom teachers. Participants come from many different states, representing large metropolitan school districts and smaller, rural school districts. The expertise provided by the Library of Congress during the Summer Teacher Institutes can benefit every level of K-12 education.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled integrated resources to Congress and the American people. The Library serves the public, scholars, Members of Congress and their staff—all of whom seek information, understanding and inspiration. Many of the Library’s resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized site at myLOC.gov.