Welcome to Dr. Maria Samora's Teaching American History Grant Web page.

Ignacio School District Receives Teaching American History Grant

The Ignacio School District 11-JT has been awarded a three-year, $975,000 "Teaching American History" grant from the US Department of Education to offer professional development to classroom teachers in the Four Corners and West Slope areas of Colorado (known as the Four Corners Community History Project, or FCCHP). Ignacio was one of 123 districts awarded the grant from a pool of 474 applicants.

In partnership with school districts in Bayfield, Montrose, and Grand Junction, the Ignacio School District will serve as the lead educational agency and coordinate a series of summer institutes, field trips, and fall workshops that strengthen teachers' content knowledge of American history and government.  In addition, the district will work with the University of Northern Colorado and the Southern Ute Tribal Museum to incorporate stories of Native, Latino and pioneer local history into the regular social studies curriculum of the partner schools.

This award is part of a nationwide competition that encourages school districts to enhance teacher quality, and improve student comprehension in American history.  The partner districts also wish to increase student reading and writing performance through the use of best practices and current scholarship in the fields of American and local history.  Up to 25 teachers per year from the four districts will be invited to participate.  The project is eligible for an additional two years of continued funding if performance goals are met in the first three years.

Locally, the grant is being administered by Dr. Maria Samora a long time social studies teacher with the Ignacio School District.  Dr. Samora left the classroom to serve as the Project Director for the Teaching American history grant.  She also serves the district as the English Language Acquisition Director. Dr. Michael Welsh of the University of Northern Colorado wrote the grant and serves as the Executive Historian.