Innovative teachers honored for livening up civics lessons

Keeping students' interest peaked during a civics lecture has never been easy. Government teachers across the state are bringing congressional deliberations to life through innovative teaching techniques while students learn firsthand how legislation is passed. \nThe IU Center on Congress presented five Indiana social studies teachers with Outstanding Teaching Awards March 29 for their efforts to teach about the U.S. Congress. \n"We want to reward those teachers who do an exceptional job of making students want to become more involved," said Debra Still, Center on Congress program services assistant. \nThe awards were presented during a luncheon for about 225 people at the St. Vincent Marten House on the northside of Indianapolis. The ceremony was part of the annual spring convention of the Indiana Council for the Social Studies, Still said. \nThe teachers who received the awards were: Roz Fishman of Floyd Central High School, Floyds Knobs; Matt Furfaro of Concord High School, Elkhart; Elaine Jerrell of Roncalli High School, Indianapolis; Gerald Long of Brown County High School, Nashville; and Brett Phipps of Harrison High School, Evansville.\nLee Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman (1965-1999) and Director of the Center on Congress, presented the honors along with Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed. Hamilton founded the IU Center in 1998.\n"I wanted to try to increase public understanding of the role that Congress plays in the government, especially among students," Hamilton said. "The goal of the awards is to encourage social studies teachers to do a good job and show a real interest in the welfare of their students."\nEach Outstanding Teaching Award includes $5,000. This is the second year for the awards, which are sponsored by the Cummins Engine Foundation in Columbus, Ind. \n"Teachers are evaluated by a peer panel consisting of IU professors, social studies teachers and others," Hamilton said. "They review applications and choose up to five teachers to be recognized for their outstanding teaching techniques and abilities." \nTo be eligible for the award, Indiana teachers must teach full time, have a minimum of three years teaching experience and teach either American government, civics, American history or a similar subject.\n"In order to improve public understanding of how Congress works, you have to go back to the classroom," Still said.\nThe center honored teachers for different reasons. Fishman immerses her students in the study of Congress by turning her four classes into a model Congress, with two classes representing the House of Representatives and two representing the Senate, according to a released statement. \n"It is amazing to see the very creative and innovative ways that these teachers are able to create unique learning experiences inside the classroom," Hamilton said.\nFurfaro directs his students to create a constitution and holds elections to stress the benefits of learning. Long exposes his students to the trade-offs in legislative approaches by having his students form committees in which they draft legislation that is later debated and voted upon in a mock congress. \nPhipps integrates the use of technology to help his students learn about Congress. Students create their own Web sites to showcase their work. Phipps also has an interactive bill project where students learn firsthand the complexity of creating effective legislation. \nJerrell assigns each of her students a member of Congress whom they are required to contact and study.\n"We want to increase awareness about how citizens can better connect to Congress and get their opinions to count," said Charles Wise, director of research and programming. "The goal is to heighten the profile of the importance in teaching about the representative branch of the government. It is important to make Indiana teachers aware of the different innovative methods that their peers are using in the classroom"