As social studies teacher Patricia Gray was scrolling through a list of opportunities open for teachers, she came across a summer teacher institute program offered by the World War II Museum located in New Orleans. Intrigued by the program, Gray decided to send in application in hopes of being one of the few that would be selected.

“The application process was very competitive,” Gray said. “There were around 400 teachers who applied from around the country and only 30 were selected to take part, including me. The program is sponsored by the museum so many teachers applied for that reason. To prepare for the class, the teachers have to read two big textbooks. This indicates that the classes I will be taking will be difficult; comparable to grad classes.”

The program takes teachers to New Orleans and Normandy, where they will be taught by a renowned expert, Donald Miller, on the subject of World War II.

“I will be spending a week in New Orleans this summer at the National World War II Museum,” Gray said. “The goal at the museum will be to inform teachers more about the subject of World War II so then they are able to teach it better. In the summer of 2018, the same group of teachers will travel to Normandy to continue the classes.”

The classes will focus on professional development for the teachers in giving them new knowledge on WWII and helping them create lesson plans for their students.

“I am really proud of my teacher for taking part in this experience,” sophomore Grant Quine said. “She already has a lot of knowledge in the subject area of World War II, but I think that there is always something new to learn. It will be really great for all of the students next year to be informed of this new knowledge.”

Social Studies Coordinator for Instruction at Genesee Intermediate School District (GISD), Roy Sovis, was the first to present the summer teaching institute program to Gray through a blog post.

“My job at GISD is to provide curricular resources to the 13 charter schools in Genesee County,” Sovis said. “Every Monday morning I send out my blog which has a list of opportunities for teachers to pursue for developmental purposes. I am constantly curating information and passing it onto the teachers. In one of my blog posts I included the opportunity that the WWII museum offered and since Gray is a social studies teacher she decided to apply for it.”

Gray will begin her journey in learning more about WWII this July in New Orleans and the following school year she will teach professional development by lecturing other teachers about what she had learned during the teachers institute.