Immerse yourself in Virginia's history by visiting one of our exhibitions.
Our education team currently offers a variety of professional development opportunities for educators each year:
The Weinstein Properties Story of Virginia Teachers Institute is a week-long program that is offered twice each summer.
The dates and subject of Primarily Virginia, the VMHC online institute, varies from year to year. All institutes are open to private and public school teachers of any grade level.
The Virginia Declaration of Learning Professional Development Program is an immersive teacher professional development program that seeks to bring arts and humanities subjects to life and shares the importance of civic engagement through object-based learning.
We also offer teacher workshops using primary sources.
In conjunction with Longwood University, the Virginia Museum of History & Culture presents its Weinstein Properties Story of Virginia Teachers Institutes. Earn re-certification points while exploring the history of Virginia, project-based learning, and teaching with primary sources!
Each of the Weinstein Properties Summer Teachers Institutes are held at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture with a day-long field trip to the Robert Russa Moton Museum in Farmville, Virginia. Throughout the week teachers will examine stories from Virginia's past through primary sources. Experts from the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and Longwood University will provide examples for project-based learning, performance-based assessments, and tips and techniques for engaging students in grades K-12.
The cost is $50, which will be refunded upon completion of the class. In addition, we require a letter of recommendation from your supervisor. Lunches and materials are provided free of charge, and participating teachers will be eligible for CEUs and recertification points. For more information, contact Manager of Museum Programs Maggie Creech at 804.342.9652 or mcreech@VirginiaHistory.org.
Registration is now open for the Summer 2020 Weinstein Properties Summer Teachers Institutes!
Session 1: Agents of Change: Women in Virginia (July 13-17)
While this session of the institute will provide teachers with an overview of Virginia history from the earliest habitation to the present, its primary focus will be women’s history in the commonwealth, as viewed through the lens of the museum’s newest exhibition, Agents of Change: Female Activism In Virginia From Women’s Suffrage To Today. Register today!
Session 2: The Story of Virginia (July 27 - 31)
This week-long institute will provide teachers with a general overview of the rich history of Virginia from the earliest habitation to the present. Participating teachers will explore the vast collections of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and learn how to teach their students to analyze primary sources and use historical thinking skills. Register today!
Primarily Virginia is an online course designed for K-12 teachers to explore Virginia’s past by examining objects and primary sources. These pieces of the past will be used as a lens to examine different historical eras in Virginia history. All course work is to be completed through the course website, and there are no required in-person class meetings. Upon completion of the course, participating teachers will receive up to 45 re-certification points, along with a membership to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
The course is offered three times a year and is free of charge to Virginia teachers, thanks to the generous support of the WestRock Foundation. During the fall and spring courses, Primarily Virginia provides an overview of Virginia history. The summer session of Primarily Virginia focuses on the upcoming National History Day theme.
For additional information, please contact Hailey Fenner at 804.342.9689 or hfenner@VirginiaHistory.org.
This immersive teacher professional development program seeks to bring arts and humanities subjects to life and shares the importance of civic engagement through object-based learning.
This program is exclusively for educators in the state of Virginia who work in 4-12th grade art, social studies, language arts, gifted & talented, special education, and ESL / ELL classrooms as well as those who teach as school librarians and media specialists. As a participant, teachers will gain access to historic art, objects, and resources from George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms, the American Civil War Museum, the Chrysler Museum of Art, and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Learn more about Virginia Declaration of Learning Program.
Space is limited. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Feb. 23, 2020. Apply today!
These programs are designed to strengthen the analytical abilities of elementary, middle, and high school teachers. Teachers will learn historical thinking skills—sourcing, contextualization, corroboration, and close reading—by using letters, diaries, documents, photographs, and maps from the society’s collections. These workshops can be conducted at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture or in your school and are perfect for in-service teacher training.
For more information, contact Manager of Museum Programs Maggie Creech at 804.342.9652 or mcreech@VirginiaHistory.org.
