American History Teachers Invited to Contribute to Upcoming Book Showcasing Why History Matters

Driving Force Institute Awarding $500 Each for Winning Submissions on Why American History Knowledge Is Important, Relevant, and Critical

FLORENCE, S.C., July 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Too many Americans today, particularly young people, don't know our nation's history. Only 42% of Americans can pass our nation's citizenship test, and only 15% of eighth graders score at the proficient level on the national NAEP US history assessment, fewer than four years earlier. At a time when all should be thinking like historians, too few know even the fundamentals of American history.

To address this need, Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement (DFI), a non-profit focused on transforming how history is taught and learned by better engaging students, invites social studies teachers from across the nation to be part of an upcoming new book, Why History Matters: American History Teachers Speak Out. The book will showcase compelling insights from teachers on the importance of American history education and their first-hand accounts of successfully inspiring the next generations to understand and appreciate it. 

Teachers of American history to K-16 students are invited to submit original essays up to 1,000 words for consideration for publication in the book. Authors chosen to be featured will be awarded $500 each. Submission, deadline, and more information is available at https://drivingforceinstitute.org/f/teachers-in-your-own-words-tell-us-why-history-matters.

"Knowing and understanding our country's history is essential to plotting our paths forward and to the strength and security of our nation," said DFI CEO Patrick Riccards. "In our work supporting educators, we are regularly struck by the passion they bring to their work and the enthusiasm their students show. We want to provide a platform for teachers to share stories that can inspire others and show what can be accomplished when we allow teachers to teach."

The book is a follow up to the 2021 compendium of essays on Why History Matters from leading historians and American history experts explaining why it is important and necessary to learn our nation's history. The Open Education Resource is available to educators as a tool to inspire their students to learn about the history of the United States and to demonstrate why the teaching and learning of American history is so important to our nation's strength.

Driving Force Institute (DFI) strives to transform the way American history is taught and learned so that students are engaged in understanding and appreciating our nation's history and can see the relevance of it to their interests and futures. Working with tens of thousands of educators and millions of K-12 students, DFI produces award-winning provocative, short-form videos for its "Untold History" initiative that shares stories of the people, the events, and artifacts that are essential to our nation's story, but are too often not taught in a K-12 survey history course. DFI has partnered in its mission with a range of organizations including Makematic, DoGoodery, American Battlefield Trust, iCivics, Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative, NY Historical Society, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and White House Historical Association.

Contact:
Jessica Schwartz Hahn
571-970-6440
[email protected]

SOURCE Driving Force Institute