2:38 p.m., July 14, 2009----The 11th annual Democracy Project Summer Institute for Teachers offers teachers a unique opportunity to engage with state and national leaders, and the first session was held last month with the second planned for mid-August. The program is sponsored by the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration (IPA) and the Delaware Department of State, with support from the Delaware Heritage Commission.

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Program director Ed Freel, former Delaware secretary of state under then-Gov. Thomas R. Carper and currently a policy scientist at the IPA, first partnered with the IPA to offer the Summer Institute in 1999. The program works with educators to improve the teaching of civics and democracy in Delaware classrooms. Since then, more than 150 teachers have had the opportunity to take the three-credit UD graduate course.

This summer, 20 Delaware teachers will meet with elected and appointed government officials, academics, jurists, lobbyists, and members of the press, who will recount their experiences and challenges and engage the teachers over two sessions. This year's program was developed by Fran O'Malley, Democracy Project curriculum director and policy scientist at the IPA; Lisa Moreland, associate policy scientist at the IPA; and Freel.

Throughout the summer, the teachers will be developing innovative lesson plans to take back to their classrooms in the fall and to share with their colleagues.

Highlights of the first session of the institute, which took place June 22-26, included group trips to Dover, Washington, D.C., and the Port of Wilmington. More than 25 speakers met with the group over the course of the week.

In Dover, the group met Gov. Jack Markell, who led a discussion entitled “Challenges of Leadership.” They also had lunch with lobbyists who shared their experiences and met members of the Delaware General Assembly.

In Washington, D.C., the group met with U.S. Rep. Michael N. Castle and U.S. Senators Carper and Edward E. “Ted” Kaufman and took tours of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Capitol Building.

At the Port of Wilmington, news anchor Allan Loudell from radio station WDEL met the group to talk about media and government, and the group learned about the state's court system from Judge Mary Miller Johnston of the Delaware Superior Court and Judge William L. Chapman, Jr., of the Delaware Family Court.

Freel said the field trips were designed to allow the teachers to meet and interact with various elected and public officials in candid discussions about their responsibilities and the challenges they face.

“At the end of the week, the teachers appreciated the opportunity they had to meet so many public officials. They were excited and energized by the experience,” he said. “It's not something you get an opportunity to do very often.”

During the second session, which will take place Aug. 10-12, the teachers will meet at the Virden Center at UD's Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes to present their lesson plans in front of their peers. Selected lesson plans will be put on the Democracy Project Web site for the public to access.

The Democracy Project began in 1999 in response to a bipartisan national study, The New Millennium Project, funded by the National Association of Secretaries of State. The study reported that “young Americans have only a limited, vague understanding of what it means to be a citizen in a democratic society.” It also indicated that media, parents, political parties and schools all play a role in connecting young people to the democratic process.

The Institute for Public Administration, part of UD's College of Education and Public Policy, addresses the policy, planning, and management needs of its partners through the integration of applied research, professional development, and the education of tomorrow's leaders.

Article by Jon Bleiweis