Helping teachers incorporate philanthropic values into their lesson plans is the goal behind the launch of the Learning to Give Summer Institute, a nationwide education initiative sponsored by Grand Valley State University's School of Education.
More than 80 teachers from the United States (including teachers from 12 West Michigan districts) and a small Korean delegation will attend the institute, June 21-24, at Grand Valley's Pew Campus in Grand Rapids. The institute will kickoff with an opening lunch at noon on Monday, June 21, in the Lubbers Exhibition Hall in Grand Valley's DeVos Center, 401 W. Fulton St. in Grand Rapids. (Media members are welcome to cover the lunch, keynote speakers will be available for interviews from 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the DeVos Center.)
Learning to Give is a project of the Council of Michigan Foundations. Based in Muskegon and developed in 1995, LTG is a K-12 curriculum designed to create citizens who are knowledgeable, responsible and involved in their communities. Grand Valley, through the School of Education and the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, is the lead university as LTG is piloted in more schools.
There are 10 area partner schools: Forest Hills Northern Middle School; Forest Hills Central Middle School; Forest Hills Eastern Middle School; Grand Rapids Ken-O-Sha Park; Grand Rapids CA Frost Environmental; Grand Rapids Southeast Academic Center; Grand Rapids Diocese SS Peter and Paul; Grand Rapids Diocese Blessed Sacrament; Spring Lake Intermediate School; Allendale New Options High School.
Elaine Collins, School of Education dean, said participants in the summer institute will develop curriculum for their classrooms and learn methods of developing philanthropic experiences.
"With more and more people insulating themselves from the social environment through technology and other means, Learning to Give helps children to increase their social awareness and civic engagement, thus reviving the concept of community," she said.
The institute's keynote speakers are Thomas H. Sander, executive director of the Saguaro Seminar at Harvard University; Joel Westheimer, co-director of Democratic Dialogue: Collaborative Research in Democracy, Education and Society, University of Ottawa, Canada; and Robert T. Grimm, director of the Department of Research and Policy Development for the Corporation for National and Community Service, Washington, D.C.
Sander will speak from 12:45-1:30 p.m. on Monday about groundbreaking Harvard research on the alarming status of civic engagement in America. Westheimer will talk from 4:15-5:45 p.m. on "The 'Good' Citizen: Who is it, who decides and how do we teach it?" Grimm will address the history of philanthropy from 10:30 a.m.-noon on Tuesday, June 22.
