Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – At the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, teachers learned how to become better teachers. 

Twenty-five teachers from across the nation gathered for a program put on by the U.S. Capitol Historical Society. “We know that over the past decades, there has been a decline in civic education, particularly at the formative ages where students need to be exposed to how government works and why government works the way it does,” said Janna Deitz, director of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society’s new “Capitol Civics” program. “We can see a need for that not only in middle school and high school, but also at the university level.”

“Different sessions have included ways of incorporating primary and secondary documents and, as we all know, sometimes you have to dive in and do the research,” said Cary Waxler, an Advanced Placement social studies teacher at Barrington High School. “Having the tools to help students do that for themselves will benefit them not only in understanding the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or other government actions, but also being able to analyze those different sources will help them regardless of whatever career they pursue.”

Among other things, the group learned about Springfield’s 1908 race riot, credited with leading up to the creation of the NAACP.