Earlier this month, a San Marcos teacher travelled to Austin to participate in a one-day teacher workshop examining American writing on the Civil War sponsored by Humanities Texas.
Jennifer Hutchinson, who teaches English at Goodnight Middle School, attended the workshop, which offered teachers the opportunity to work closely with leading scholars studying major texts of American literature and history by writers including Frederick Douglass, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Abraham Lincoln and Henry David Thoreau.
During the morning, participants attended lectures and presentations. In the afternoon, they joined faculty in small workshops to examine primary sources such as letters, poems, speeches and essays that enrich classroom instruction.
Workshop faculty included scholars from leading universities such as Daina Ramey Berry, Evan Carton and Coleman Hutchison, all of the University of Texas at Austin.
The workshop was held at the Byrne-Reed House, the Humanities Texas headquarters in Austin. Special emphasis was placed on newly added or revised standards in the state’s language arts curriculum.
“Humanities Texas is delighted to include an exceptional teacher from San Marcos in this educational endeavor,” Humanities Texas Executive Director Michael L. Gillette said. “Bringing teachers together to learn from leading scholars and from each other is an effective way to ensure that Texas students continue to receive the best possible educational opportunities.”