WASHINGTON ? November 1 2001 ? The need to teach students about tolerance and the history of Civil Rights has increased since the September terrorist acts. National History Day (NHD) is proud to be a leader in teaching tolerance and is excited to announce that the 2002 NHD Summer Teacher Institute will be entitled ?We Shall Overcome?: 100 Years of the Civil Rights Movement. The institute is sponsored by Annenberg/CPB Channel and will be held July 20- July 27, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Twenty-five educators will be selected to participate in the free seven-day institute. The institute director is Lee Formwalt, Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians and a Civil Rights Historian. The central objective of this year?s NHD Summer Institute is to improve the teaching of history by exposing participants to recent scholarship about the civil rights movement, familiarizing them with the primary sources available for studying and teaching, and modeling different ways of encouraging active learning. To achieve this goal teachers will have the opportunity of working with prominent historians and being exposed to a fascinating array of resources, including historic sites, oral histories and visual images, which can be used in teaching. In addition there will be other special activities, like taking a trip to the very moving Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site.

The institute will focus a variety of different civil rights struggles in the world including the American Indian Movement, African American Civil Right Movement, Muslim understanding and religious rights, and more. Educators are expected to spread their new knowledge of tolerance and Civil Rights by making two presentations relating to the institute theme after they return home. One presentation will be to a professional organization such as the National Council for the Social Studies, and the other to a local or state teacher workshop.

Past participants of the summer institute have found their experiences to be absolutely in valuable. "Teachers need this shot of adrenalin in the summer. It gives us a focus and a new way of looking at the material and what we do in the classroom. In terms of content, accessibility of speakers, quality of participants, excitement? this is the best workshop I?ve ever attended,? said an enthusiastic 2001 participant.

To be eligible for participation, educators must be teachers of history/social studies, librarians and media specialists in secondary schools. Applicants must also have employment guaranteed for the 2002-2003 academic year.

To request an application or more information, contact Bea Hardy, Outreach and Program Manager, National History Day, by phone (301) 314-9739, e-mail National.History.Day@umail.umd.edu, or by visiting the NHD web site at .

National History Day is a year-long, non-profit education program dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of history in elementary and secondary schools through publications and education programs.