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Auburn City Schools received the Improve Teaching of American History grant for $499,996 from the U.S. Department of Education Thursday.

The three-year grant will be used to provide teachers with in-depth professional training.

The Auburn School System will share the money with Opelika City Schools, Dr. Terry Jenkins, superintendent of Auburn City Schools, said.

Four years ago, Auburn City Schools received a similar grant.

The old grant allowed teachers to travel to places like Charleston, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. to learn first hand about cities that played prominent roles in American History, Jenkins said. That previous grant primarily focused on the New England Era of American History, he said.

“This one is targeted more towards the Western United States,” he said, referring to the new grant.

Teachers could visit places like Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.

“We don’t know nearly as much about Western (American) History ...(It is) something our teachers would really benefit from.” Jenkins said American History is taught early in students’ careers. When it comes time for the graduation test, students have trouble remembering things such as specific dates.

Of all four portions of the graduation exam, students score lowest on the history portion, he said.

To combat this problem, this grant includes built-in staff and lesson plan development, which will help prepare teachers and students for exams. The grant money will focus on grades four through seven and grades 10 through 12.

In addition to visits to the Western United States and other sites instructors will eventually teach about, teachers will also receive seminars and presentations from Auburn University professors. Jenkins said the grant is very competitive, and he is proud of Linda Rainer, grant writer for Auburn City Schools, for garnering the money.

The full amount the system could have received would have been $500,000.

“I told Linda she wasn’t perfect,” he joked. “(She was) $3 short.” Rainer said teachers and administrators from Opelika and Auburn Schools would like to start putting together programs with the grant money this summer.

The Improving Teaching of American History Grant is one of the most popular among teachers, she said.

“For them its like a whole new world,” she said. “They take it back to their classrooms.”

“It is very enriching for our student body,” she said.

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