Saugus Public Schools is participating in a Teaching American History Grant (TAHG) in association with the College of William and Mary, the National Parks Service, and public school districts from Virginia, Puerto Rico, and Georgia. The grant is designed to help teachers make better use of the historic landmarks and sites near their community. This website is a product of Saugus Public School teachers who have visited local historic sites and have developed lesson plans for their classes, and other local support. If you'd like to learn more, read the synopsis below. Lesson Plans follow the synopsis.

The Saugus Public Schools and the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site joined a unique partnership with five other school districts and five other National Historic Sites to participate in a three year, one million dollar, Teaching American History Grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The grant was designed to strengthen teachers’ knowledge of American history and, thereby, students’ proficiency. In addition to Saugus, the following other districts and parks participated in the grant:

• Norfolk City Public Schools, Virginia / First Landing State Park
• Westmoreland County Public Schools, Virginia / George Washington Birthplace
• Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools, Virginia / Colonial National Historical Park
• Bibb County Public Schools, Georgia / Ocmulgee National Monument
• Puerto Rico Department of Education, Puerto Rico / San Jan National Historic Site
• The College of William and Mary

 

Background:
In July of 2003, the Teaching American History Grant was officially awarded to the Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools and the previously mentioned members of the partnership. Dr. Steven Kesselman, Superintendent of the Saugus Iron Works, and Dr. Keith Manville, Superintendent of the Saugus Public Schools, were key officials in securing the grant for Saugus. A consortium was developed with the College of William and Mary in Virginia and summer institutes called “Weaving the Fabric of American History” were offered to selected teachers and park rangers in the partnership. Park Ranger, Amy Curry, from the Saugus Iron Works attended with high school teacher Richard Lavoie, middle school teacher Lee Maes, and elementary school teachers Anne Wilson (Veterans Memorial School) and Donna Marra (Waybright School). The local participants had to complete many academic requirements before being awarded graduate credit for their participation. One of the requirements was to design a lesson plan to be put on line for other teachers to implement in their classrooms.

 

In addition to summer institutes being held in Virginia, the Saugus Public Schools and the Saugus Iron Works offered several Teaching American History workshops locally to educators. Retired teacher, Marilyn Carlson, administered the grant for the Saugus Public Schools, and Park Ranger, Amy Curry, coordinated the grant for the park service. The workshops were held at the Veterans Memorial School with more then fifty Saugus teachers participating who represented the high school, the middle school, and all the elementary schools. Many important historic sites were visited by the teachers as they learned about local history and the resources available to them. These sites included:

• Salem Maritime National Historic Site
• Peabody Essex Museum
• House of Seven Gables
• Essex Ship Building Museum
• Wenham Museum
• Saugus Historical Society
• Lynn Heritage State Park
• General Electric River Works Plant
• Rebecca Nurse Homestead
• Beverly Historic Society
• Newburyport Customs House
• Rocky Hill Meeting House (Amesbury)
• Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm (Newbury)
• USS Constitution Museum
• USS Cassin Young
• Charlestown Navy Yard
• Saugus Iron Works

Guest speakers were also invited to Saugus to present information and provide materials to Saugus teachers on the Salem Witchcraft Trials (Robert Smith, Pickering Middle School Principal, Lynn) and Craig Cartier (Plymouth Archaeological Rediscovery Project) who gave a flint knapping demonstration (stone tool making). Teachers traveled to the Robert S. Peabody Museum in Andover and Donald Slatter & Eugene Winter gave a presentation on Native Americans of Southeastern Massachusetts. This was followed by a tour of the museum and an atlatl demonstration.
Park Rangers, Curtis White and Amy Curry, provided tours of the Saugus Iron Works and introduced teachers to the programs and resources that were available to the schools.

Dr. Christopher Donta, a senior archaeologist at UMass, Amherst, visited Saugus and gave a presentation on “The Archaeology in Southern New England” which included recent archaeological findings at Vinegar Hill and the Saugus Iron Works. The teachers traveled to the Salem Maritime Museum for a presentation on “Abolitionists and the Underground Railroad in the Essex National Heritage Area” by Park Rangers Bruce Jones and Tina Cross. These workshops have been taped by Saugus High School graduate James Wlodka, and will be shown on local cable TV.

A team of local artists including Bob Sacco, Elliott Hurvitz, and Diane Walsh helped with the sketches needed for the project. Anne Wilson, Marilyn Carlson, and Eric Brown contributed the photographs. Special thanks to Park Ranger, Rae Emerson, who facilitated the initial development of the grant. Further information regarding this grant can be obtained by contacting:
Marilyn Carlson,
TAHG Administrator
23 Main Street, Saugus, MA 01906
(781) 231-5000
or
Amy Curry
TAHG Coordinator
Saugus Iron Works NHS
244 Central Street, Saugus, MA 01906
(781) 233-0050

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