Issued

2021-2022

Type

Classroom Tools

Amount

$15,000.00

Reach

200 middle and high school students

Applicant(s)

Joel Schaefer

Description

Andover Schools have participated in Saturday Academies promoted by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History for over a decade. The Saturday Academy program provides students with the opportunity to explore specific subjects of American History through the use of primary documents over a six-week period on Saturday mornings. Classes are taught two times- one from 9-10:20 AM and the second offering is from 10:30-11:50 AM.  Breakfast is provided usually in the form of doughnuts and bottled water. The enrichment program allows educators to select meaningful subjects in American History that often cannot be explored with the proper depth during a calendar school year. Thus, students are engaged in the historical discipline of interpretation, creation, problem-solving, and discovery of a subject or era of history that they may not otherwise be exposed to in the classroom. Students are allowed to enroll in either one or two classes. Often teachers create games or contests where small prizes can be won- such as a history book, calendar, food, or t-shirt. The program is intended to provide students with a relaxed atmosphere where students can learn without consequence, be around teachers who love the specific subject, and students who want to be there on a Saturday morning to enrich their understanding of our great nation through a unique lens of American history.