Lacy Elementary teacher Carol Longo took part in the National Endowment for the Humanities workshop entitled Crafting Freedom: African-American Artisans, Entrepreneurs, and Abolitionists of the Upper South. The endowment named Longo a Summer Scholar, selecting her from a national applicant pool to attend one of 20 summer study opportunities it supports.

Longo and other scholars in the program studied at African-American historic sites throughout the Piedmont region of North Carolina and on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. The workshop director was Laurel C. Sneed who is the executive director of the Append Foundation, an educational foundation dedicated to improving the dissemination of knowledge about African American history through seminars, public programs and the development of new media. A website of resources on nine black freedom crafters called the Crafting Freedom Website was a focal point of the workshop, as were visits to historic sites reflecting workshop themes.

The endowment is a federal agency that supports Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops so that teachers can study with experts in humanities disciplines.

Athens Drive High history teacher James Bahm talked with Gary Shapiro, host of NPR’s From the Bookshelf, about his creative non-fiction book called Beneath the Winter Sycamores. The book is about the kidnapping of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh’s 20 month-old son, Charles Jr.

The radio broadcast originates from NPR station KUSP in Santa Cruz, California, and is a regular feature during the Friday broadcast of Morning Edition.

Bahm’s interview has aired, but you can hear the audio podcast of the discussion online here.

Thanks to Athens Drive PTA President Debbie Kline for sharing this story.

Apex High teacher Julie Oster won the prestigious Janet Linton Leadership award from the National Academy Foundation. Oster is the Career Academy Coordinator for the Apex High Academy of Information Technology.

The award recognizes extraordinary leadership within the National Academy Foundation (NAF) Network at the school, district and state levels. 

The award honors teachers who have a passion for leading and developing an academy community and a capacity to understand and implement ways in which effective academy leadership can drive academy improvement.

Award winners demonstrate a sustained commitment to the academy model, and:

• Actively champion the academy within the school and district, including staff and students, administrators and parents
• Share and support the academy’s vision of success for all students
• Position the academy to contribute to overall high school improvement efforts
• Work together with academy staff as a professional learning community focused on student learning, and
• As part of a team, recruit, develop and retain leaders with the accountability to implement the shared academy vision, and prepare all youth for internships, college, career and citizenship.

The criteria for this award recognizes those outstanding qualities of individual leaders and leadership teams in advancing the NAF Academy Model and ensuring that all youth are prepared for college, careers and active civic participation.

The NAF presents the Janet Linton Academy Leadership Award to honor the late San Diego Academy Director Janet Linton each summer at its Annual Institute for Staff Development.

You can find more about the Apex High Academy of Information Technology here.

Apex High teacher Julie Oster receives leadership award at National Academy Foundation Annual Institute for Staff Development.