Launching Teaching with Primary Sources formerly called an Adventure of the American Mind
Senator Durbin Visits GSU

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin visited Governors State University in January to announce nearly $700,000 in funding for Governors State University's new teacher training initiative - a partnership with the Library of Congress.

The funding comes through Senator Durbin's sponsorship of An Adventure of the American Mind Teaching with Primary Sources, a program from the Library of Congress that trains and supports K-12 teachers in making the vast resources of the Library of Congress available for use in schools. GSU will provide teachers with the technology and training to access and use over eight million primary sources, digitized for use in their classrooms.

In a luncheon held in the senator's honor, President Stuart Fagan thanked Durbin for his commitment to education in Illinois. "Senator Durbin is the education senator," Fagan said. "He's kept his promises. He's given Illinois children and adults who want to advance themselves opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise. He fights for the programs and appropriations we need to provide the education Illinoisans need." Durbin said, "By participating in this program, GSU is joining an effort to confront the challenges facing Illinois teachers head on." GSU is joined by eleven other Illinois Universities to distribute this opportunity.

Two days before Senator Durbin's visit to GSU, GSU AAM director Dr. Sandi Estep and assistant director Luci Sweder held a luncheon for superintendents and principals from surrounding schools and districts to extend the invitation to take advantage of AAM at GSU.

"A project like AAM levels the playing field for students by giving their teachers unparalleled resources," Estep said. "We give them training; we give them support; and we give them the technology, laptops and software, to put their students, virtually, in the Library of Congress." At the luncheon, Estep asked superintendents and principals to nominate teachers for the AAM project. GSU will select the first group for AAM this month and start the program in March.