INFORMATIONAL

The Virginia Department of Education, Old Dominion 
University, and the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board 
announce the 2000 History and Social Science Teachers'
Study Seminar in Israel.  This program offers middle
and high school teachers and administrators 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. Participating teachers

will return to Virginia's school divisions with fresh insights
to carry out a demanding curricula.

The Virginia study seminar is an eleven-day trip 
scheduled to leave the United States on April 6, 2000, 
and return on April 16, 2000.  Fifteen middle and/or 
high school teachers and administrators 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  
October.  All finalists must be available for an interview 
in early January, if needed.  Selected participants must 
agree to attend two one-day training seminars in Richmond
before the departure date.  The training seminars provide
essential orientation and  background materials for the trip.

The costs to participants will be approximately $1,950 
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 Dr. Beverly Thurston, specialist for 
History and Social Sciences and International Education, 
at (804) 225-2893.

PDS/BT/eh

 
.