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West Virginia Wesleyan College will serve as the college partner for Hampshire County Schools' "American Heart: Framing Our History" grant. This is the third time Wesleyan has served as the college sponsor in the U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History grant program. The program is guaranteed three years of funding and could be extended to five years reaching a total of $1,614,000.

The grant coordinator is Hampshire County Superintendent and former Upshur County educator Robin Lewis. Dr. Robert Rupp, professor of history and political science, is the lead scholar, while former Wesleyan associate professor of education Dr. Lynn Rupp is the project director.

"Framing Our History" is a professional development initiative that challenges the concept that the study of traditional American history is no longer relevant. The project is designed to not only increase the content knowledge and historical thinking skills of the participants, but also provide strategies for delivering American history for today's world.

Hampshire County Schools will represent a consortium of eight West Virginia county school districts, Barbour, Grant, Jefferson, Monongalia, Mineral, Preston and Upshur. The project will serve 40 middle and high school teachers, including 30 from low-performing schools in the consortium of counties. Ten additional teachers will serve as mentors for program activities including action research, development of instructional resources, and implementation of school improvement interventions.

The outcomes are: Promote understanding, relevance and correlation of the framework to events, individuals and turning points; improve teacher knowledge and skills in teaching traditional American history; and improve student achievement in the study of traditional American history.

In addition to Wesleyan, the major project partners are the National Council for History Education (NCHE), the National Constitution Center, the Bill of Rights Institute, Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., the Robert C. Byrd Center for legislative Studies at Shepherd University, and E Learning International.

Wesleyan education students will be actively involved in researching the effectiveness of strategies throughout the project. In addition, students will also work with both teachers and students through the College's education curriculum.

"This partnership between Wesleyan and these West Virginia schools will provide an opportunity for more effective learning in classrooms, especially, in underserved areas," said Dr. Lynn Rupp.

"This grant will provide important funding for promoting understanding of the historical importance of the documents that framed our history," said Robert Rupp. "Teachers will achieve an understanding through online discussion groups, book studies and field studies to historical sites."

"West Virginia Wesleyan is pleased to be a college partner in this project," said Dr. Pamela Balch, president of the college. "We are grateful to the leadership and vision of Robin Lewis and to Drs. Lynn and Rob Rupp."