We the Teachers National Civics Seminar: The Declaration of Independence and the Founding of the United States

The We the Teachers Civics Seminar: The Declaration of Independence and the Founding of the United States is a weeklong PD event for up to 30 educators teaching grades 3–5 at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. This seminar, held to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, will explore the founding of the United States from multiple perspectives in ways that can be easily adapted to the elementary classroom. Each day will focus on key primary sources and the latest historical interpretations of critical topics for the founding era, including colonial American society on the eve of the American Revolution, the imperial crisis between the American colonies and Great Britain, the Declaration of Independence (including its context and philosophical underpinnings), the American Revolutionary War, and America’s new republican society forged as a result of the Revolution. Pedagogical sessions will supplement this rich historical content. Through a variety of learning activities, seminar participants will analyze the past—and representations of the past—in ways that give meaning to the present. The goal throughout will be to provide teachers with a wealth of knowledge and resources to apply creatively in the elementary classroom.

The seminar will be open to up to 20 local teachers in the Yorba Linda area and 10 teachers from across the United States. 

Offered in partnership with the Richard Nixon Foundation. Presented with the generous support of Patricia and William Podlich.

Denver Brunsman, Lead Scholar

Denver Brunsman is associate professor and chair of the History Department at George Washington University, where his courses include George Washington and His World, taught annually at the Mount Vernon estate. He is the author of the award-winning book The Evil Necessity: British Naval Impressment in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World (2013) and the forthcoming George Washington and His World (2026), in addition to coauthoring a leading college and AP US History textbook, Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People (2016; 2020), among multiple other publications. His honors include the Oscar and Shoshana Trachtenberg Prize for Teaching Excellence and induction into the George Washington University Academy of Distinguished Teachers (2018) as well as selection to the College Board AP US History Development Committee (2018–23; Higher Ed Chair, 2021–23).

Tim Bailey, Master Teacher

Tim Bailey is currently the director of curriculum development and instructional design at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. He is the developer of the Hamilton Education Program as well as the professional development programs Teaching Literacy through History and Teaching Civics through History. In addition, he authored the book series Easy Simulations for Scholastic Publishing. Prior to the Institute, he was a US history teacher at Northwest Middle School in Salt Lake City, Utah, and in his 20+ years in the classroom he has taught at all levels from elementary to college. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Utah. His distinctions include Utah State Teacher of the Year 2001, National History Teacher of the Year 2009, and University of Utah Classroom Teacher of the Year 2010.

Richard Nixon Foundation

The Richard Nixon Foundation is a privately supported, nonprofit, nonpartisan institution that advances President Nixon’s legacy of visionary leadership, international grand strategy, public service, and a more just society for all Americans. The Foundation is based at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California, and works throughout the country and online by actively encouraging and supporting scholarship, sponsoring programs that engage the public with American civics, creating and promoting educational exhibits rooted in American history, and fostering discussion and debate about America’s 37th president.