| WASHINGTON,
DC (August 22, 2008)—Thirty-two teachers from
around the country attended a five-day seminar this
week led by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day
O’Connor. The seminar, entitled “The American
Judiciary,” was held at Georgetown Law in Washington,
DC, and was organized by the Gilder Lehrman Institute
of American History in partnership with the Annenberg
Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, and the Sandra Day O’Connor
Project on the State of the Judiciary at Georgetown
Law. Justice O’Connor, along with legal scholars
A.E. Dick Howard, Jack Rakove, and Viet Dinh, examined
the history of the judiciary from the origins of its
authority in the Constitution through contemporary issues
addressed by the Supreme Court. Justice O’Connor
spoke candidly about her long career on the Supreme
Court, answering questions from teachers and discussing
a range of constitutional issues.
Teachers attending the seminar were selected from more
than a thousand applicants and included History Teacher
of the Year award winners from South Dakota and Louisiana.
Participants also discussed classroom strategies for
judiciary-related teaching. “The courts’
decisions impact students’ lives daily—think
about all the issues it encompasses, from free speech
to the right to privacy and due process,” said
University of Virginia Law professor and seminar leader
A.E. Dick Howard.
“We are pleased that Georgetown Law’s Supreme
Court moot courtroom was chosen as the site for this
important program to educate high school students about
the history of the Supreme Court,” said Meryl
Chertoff, Director of the Sandra Day O’Connor
Project on the State of the Judiciary at Georgetown
Law. “Just a short walk from the Court itself,
the moot courtroom was in 2006 used to prepare counsel
for argument in 90% of the cases that Term. Now our
law school has been able to extend its reach to the
wonderful high school teachers brought here by the Gilder
Lehrman Institute. Through them, Justice O’Connor
will touch a new generation of young people with the
civics education message which is at the heart of the
mission of her Project here at Georgetown Law.”
Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American
History promotes the study and love of American history.
The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and
the general public. The Institute’s seminars are
designed to strengthen educators' commitment to high
quality history teaching. Public, parochial and independent
school teachers are eligible to apply. These week-long
seminars provide intellectual stimulation and a collaborative
context for developing practical resources and strategies
to take back to the classroom. Over the past thirteen
years, more than 6,000 educators have participated.
This year, more than 900 participants from 49 states
and 6 foreign countries will take part in one of thirty-two
different seminars held in the United States and England.
The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands was established
in 2001 by the Annenberg Foundation to advance public
understanding of and appreciation for democracy and
to address serious issues facing the country and the
world. Among the goals of the Sunnylands Trust is improving
civics education and understanding of democratic institutions.
In furtherance of that mission, the Trust creates and
distributes print, online and video materials on the
Constitution to provide schools and institutions with
high-quality programs at no-cost for use around Constitution
Day in September and beyond. All Sunnylands Constitution
Project videos are available to stream on the Annenberg
Classroom website (www.AnnenbergClassroom.org)
along with lesson plans and other educational materials
that supplement each video.
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