Sparkman teacher named Master Teacher for Library Of Congress, National History Day partnership
HARVEST — A teacher at Sparkman High School was named as one of a few educators throughout the nation chosen to be a master teacher for Library of Congress, National History Day (NHD) partnership.
Erin Coggins was picked to be one of ten who will participate in the Master Teacher Program.
Coggins has taught at Sparkman for nearly 20 years. She currently advises the yearbook, newspaper and teaches the history electives, Great Wars and the Cold War. She was named the 2018 Alabama History Teacher of the Year and has been recognized as the Alabama Journalism Adviser of the Year six times.
Over the next several months, Coggins and the other master teachers will work directly with NHD and Library of Congress staff to create and test a guide which will present the processes for successful student research and the formation of strong, cogent historical arguments.
In its lesson plans for practical application, the guidebook will feature primary sources from the vast collections of the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world. The teachers’ experience will include travel to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., for advanced training and on-site writing and development workshops.
Suitable for use by teachers at the middle and high school levels, the new guide will support the creation of a variety of student research projects, including documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, and websites. NHD will distribute both print and online versions of the guide and will present a four-module teacher webinar series to feature best practices for the guide’s implementation.
“These educators bring years of incomparable classroom and project-based teaching experience,” said National History Day Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “I know they will elevate this opportunity to showcase the Library’s primary source collections and provide their peers around the world with a coveted new teaching tool. We are grateful for this opportunity to work with the Library of Congress as creation partners for this valuable project.”
Applications for this program were submitted by 65 educators from across the United States, and the final cohort of ten teachers was selected by a committee of National History Day and Library of Congress staff members. The educators chosen for the program represent Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
