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SUPTS. MEMO. NO. 15
January 31, 1997 |
| TO: | Division Superintendents |
| FROM: | Richard T. La Pointe
Superintendent of Public Instruction |
| SUBJECT: | Social Studies Teachers' Seminar in Israel |
The Virginia Department of Education, with the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board and Old Dominion University, announces its 1997 Social Studies Teachers' Study Seminar in Israel. This program offers middle and high school teachers a unique opportunity to focus on Virginia's History and Social Science Standards of Learning through on-site lectures and classroom observations in Israel. Besides school visits, seminar participants will attend talks arranged by the Israeli Ministry of Education, visit historic sites, and travel to Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and Tel Aviv. The seminar will concentrate on four major themes in the History and Social Science Standards of Learning: ancient civilizations, major religions, the Holocaust, and modern Middle Eastern politics and geography. Given the new Standards of Learning, teachers will return to Virginia's school divisions with fresh insights to carry out a demanding curricula. The Virginia study seminar is a ten-day trip scheduled to leave the United States on May 2, 1997 and return on May 11, 1997. Fifteen middle and/or high school teachers will be selected to travel as representatives of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Applicants must obtain permission from their school division and complete an application form to be eligible for the study seminar. An announcement of the seminar and an application form will be mailed to all social studies contact persons in January. All finalists must be available for an interview on March 8, if needed. Selected participants must agree to attend two one-day training seminars in Richmond before the departure date. The seminars are scheduled for March 15 and April 13 and provide essential orientation and background materials for the trip. The costs to participants will be approximately $1,950.00 per person. Some scholarships may be available. Costs may vary slightly because negotiations for meals and lodging have not been completed. Thank you for your support of the study seminar. If you have questions regarding this program, please do not hesitate to contact Beverly Thurston, Specialist for History and Social Sciences, at (804) 225-2893. RTL/bt