Contact: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Monday, August 16, 2010

Four educators in Fayette County Public Schools attended this summer’s Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute, an eight-day immersion program in Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown.

“It was an incredible experience to be in an environment so rife with our nation’s history. Learning about our Founding Fathers in the very places they once lived and stood really inspired me,” said Jennifer Ward of Henry Clay High School.

The other FCPS participants were Jim Combs of Lafayette High School, Amy Sanders of Bryan Station Middle School and Tesha Livingston of Tates Creek Middle School.

Amid the historic sites, the teachers debated such longstanding issues as unity vs. diversity, private wealth vs. commonwealth, law vs. ethics, and freedom vs. equality. They also had a chance to exchange ideas with noted historians, meet character interpreters and take part in
18^th-century reenactments.

“The week at Williamsburg was a chance to actually experience the foundation of our country. I am looking forward to trying to incorporate as much as I can into my classroom,” Sanders said.

The Colonial Williamsburg initiative, designed for those who teach U.S. history/government and classroom collaborators, is a federally funded project. Travel, lodging, meals and the institute were funded by the Teaching American History Grant through the Central Kentucky Special Education Cooperative at the University of Kentucky.