The Charlotte Parkhurst Chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution of Folsom announced that a local teacher that its members nominated for a national DAR grant was one of only 31 in the United States to receive the award.
Mike Smith, an eighth-grade history teacher at Marina Village Middle School in El Dorado Hills, was caught completely off guard at a recent staff meeting when he learned he had been awarded a $2,500 grant from the National Community Classroom Committee as part of the 2023 DAR American Revolution Legacy Grant Program. Charlotte Parkhurst Chapter Regent Bobbi Bennett and Classroom Committee Chairman Debra Carlson presented the award.
DAR offered PreK-16 teachers and administrators nationwide the opportunity to apply for American Revolutionary Legacy Grants that support educational initiatives or student programs (for young and old), enhance student academic performance, and reward creative approaches to support higher levels of student learning. Winning grants would be for new projects/initiatives that focused on the theme of Stars & Stripes Forever: The Enduring Legacy of the American Revolution. Grant requests had to focus on a project, not a purchase.
Smith’s grant application focused on the process of conducting student interviews and then transferring that information to a digital platform for public viewing. In keeping with the designated theme, he plans to pose two questions to his students: What does the American flag mean to you? Do you think America’s view of the flag has changed since the American Revolution, if so, how?
The goal of his project is to engage students in productive conversations about the American flag, have students conduct historical interviews within the community and practice civic responsibilities (creating and maintaining a historical record, responsibilities of conducting interviews, First Amendment issues like libel and slander). The project will begin at the start of the school year next fall.
For more information about the Charlotte Parkhurst Chapter of DAR and honoring and preserving the legacy of potential Revolutionary ancestors in your family, promoting historic preservation, education and patriotic endeavors email charlotteparkhurstdar@gmail.com or visit the Charlotte Parkhurst Chapter website at folsom.californiadar.org.