The Washington State Capitol now offers Guided Virtual Tours! These tours enable students and teachers to interface, in real time, with a tour guide as they explore the historic and legislative locations where government happens. Utilizing 360’ panoramic views, students will learn about the three branches of government and about how they can participate in voting and in the law making process.
Virtual sites that will be explored include the capitol building’s main entrance, legislative chambers of the Senate and House of Representatives, Governor’s Office, State Reception Room, Rotunda, and State Supreme Court. The total tour time is about 60 minutes and includes opportunities for Q and A with the tour guide. Guided Virtual Tours are available for 4th-12th grade students.
The Department of Enterprise Services Visitor Services Program accepts requests for Guided Virtual Tours throughout the year, but we suggest that you sign up as early as possible to secure your preferred date. For more tour information and to request a tour, follow this link to our Civic Education Tours page: https://des.wa.gov/services/facilities-leasing/capitol-campus/tours/civic-education-tours.
For questions, call (360) 902-8880 or email tours@des.wa.gov. Groups with fewer than 20 students or students younger than 4th graders are encouraged to contact the State Capitol Tour Office at (360) 902-8880 to discuss other tour options that might be available.
OSPI Social Studies department announces the recruitment of open cadre positions across the state.
The OSPI Social Studies Cadre of Educators, established in 2010, consists of 35-40 educators who have both teaching experience and expertise in social studies education. The Cadre serves as a social studies teaching and advisory team for the state. The following positions are open for application:
A time for interaction, information, sharing, and learning from one another!
The Centralia Prevention Coalition is hosting a FREE Guiding Good Choices parenting class in partnership with Family Education & Support Services. The weekly class runs now through September 29 and is designed for parents & caregivers of middle school age children. See the flyer for more info.
Thursdays | 5:30-7:30 PM | Unity Center for Positive Living | Centralia
Do you have a good story to share?
OSPI is seeking stories that recognize Social Studies educators doing good work in grades K-12. We encourage administrators and educators to submit stories of districts, schools, classrooms, or community organizations promoting Social Studies. Send your story to SocialStudies@k12.wa.us.
Western States Civics Coalition Shares Latest PD Video
Teaching About Voting
The Western States Civics Coalition (WSCC) kicked off the 2023 school year with a terrific panel of educators, civic organizations, and public officials discussing the importance of youth civic engagement and voting.View the video here.
The Western States Civics Coalition was created by state social studies leaders to combine resources and ideas across states in order to provide professional development options for teachers. They've developed a monthly series of 1.5-hour sessions. Check back here for future sessions. Clock hours are available to Washington educators for all sessions they attend.
iCivics Offers Free Resources for Teaching About Elections
Because 'Midterm Elections Matter!'
Deepen students’ understanding of the midterm elections, their impact on their local communities, and how they can get involved.
While election day is November 8, early voting has already begun in many states for the 2022 midterm elections. Our Election Headquarters is up to date with a variety of non-partisan resources to help you teach your students not only what the midterms are, but how the decisions made by people through their votes affects everything from the federal budget and state laws to issues in their own communities.
Use our games, lesson plans, and activities to connect the issues on the ballot to your students’ daily lives, prepare students to vote, and motivate them to engage in the election process even if they can’t cast a ballot.
Civic Education Washington State Offers Free Resources & Materials
Civic Education Washington State* seeks to promote an enlightened and responsible citizenry that is committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy in the United States and in other countries.
Our goal is simple: To train the teachers that will guide our youth.
Project Citizen and the We the People programs are provided, in part, by a state-funded grant, through OSPI. These programs offer free training support for teachers who will then educate students in:
the foundation of our democracy
their privileges
their responsibilities
For more information about the programs or to request free books, email or call Kathy Hand at kathyhand@comcast.net or 206-244-3463.
*Civic Education Washington State is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.
The folks at George Washington’s Mount Vernon are excited to announce the opening of applications for their Western States Teacher Fellowship Program for K-12 educators, technology or media specialists, instructional coaches, and even district/state level curriculum specialists!
They are looking for candidates who can work collaboratively with two other educators from western states (AK, ID, MT, OR) for three weeks this spring to help create impactful digital resources to connect students in the Pacific Northwest more directly with George Washington and early American history content.
Application Window:
Stuart Elway Takes Students' Questions on CONNECTS!
Have your students participate in a Q&A with Nationally Recognized WA State Pollster Stuart Elway in October!!
Registered teachers will submit their students’ pre-recorded “selfie-style” questions to CONNECTS to be considered for the live Zoom connection.
THEME: Our first return to an in-person Conference is certainly cause for celebration. This year's theme will focus on Celebrating Social Studies. This gathering will focus on recognizing the relevance and significance of our discipline as highlighted these last few years, and to celebrate the essential work of our social studies educators across the state.
INCLUDED: As a part of that appreciation, WSCSS would like to offer free conference registration for the session presenter (and up to one co-presenter).
Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
The National Council for the Social Studies suggests the following resources for your classrooms:
The Library of Congress has created a primary source set containing images, audio, maps, and lesson plan ideas for bolstering lessons on Hispanic Heritage
Bolster a Hispanic Heritage classroom discussion or lesson plan with the United States Census Bureau's stories, population data, and trade figures
Identidad y Fronteras: Borders and Identity is a bilingual educational resource based on research and documentation from the 1993 Smithsonian Folklife Festival program and explores culture along the United States-Mexico border
OSPI Still Accepting Applications for the Kip Tokuda Memorial Grant
Form Package #969
The Kip Tokuda Memorial Civil Liberties Public Education Program is created to do one or both of the following:
Educate the public regarding the history and the lessons of the World War II exclusion, removal, and detention of persons of Japanese ancestry through the development, coordination, and distribution of new educational materials and the development of curriculum materials to complement and augment resources currently available on this subject matter; and
Develop videos, plays, presentations, speaker bureaus, and exhibitions for presentation to elementary schools, secondary schools, community colleges, and to other interested parties.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute Offers Self-paced American History Courses
Explore 50 graduate-level courses—led by the nation’s top historians—that you can take from home!
Each of the Institute's fifty courses is led by an acclaimed historian and provides graduate-level instruction on a particular event, theme, historical figure, or movement in American history. Explore all 50 self-paced courses.
Teaching the Holocaust: A 10-Part Series
Join the Holocaust Center for Humanity and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, in partnership with Echoes & Reflections, for a NEW 10-part interactive asynchronous Holocaust educator professional development, October 3 - December 12.
Topics include: Pedagogy, Antisemitism, Nazi Germany, Ghettos, Using Movies to Teach, Resistance, Rescue, Liberation and Return to Life, Social Justice and the Legacy of the Holocaust.
Educator's Night at the Washington State History Museum
Register Now for this WSHM Free Event!
Join us at the Washington State History Museum to relax and mingle with your fellow educators while learning more about the resources and programs offered by organizations across the Puget Sound region. Discover innovative, standards-based ways to bring the arts, social studies, science, and other subjects into your classroom or to bring your students out into the community. This experience is open to all educators. Register in advance online, or night-of at the event.
Thursday, October 6 | 5:30 to 8:00 PM | Washington State History Museum
Learn Tools for Teaching Supreme Court Cases
Should Admissions be "Colorblind"?: Tools for Teaching Supreme Court Cases
Join CS4 and Street Law in a joint webinar which focuses on tools for teaching about Supreme Court cases, with a special focus on the upcoming Affirmative Action case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/UNC that will be argued at the end of October.
'Whole Educator Leadership Institute' for All Educators
In today’s stressful teaching environment, exacerbated by COVID, our teachers must cope with their own trauma, and learn to cope with, and address, the Secondary Traumatic Stress experienced via their students. In light of the efforts of HB 1363, districts must provide support for teachers in regard to this trauma. This workshop provides a space for teachers to receive support and strategies for their own trauma, as well as engaging in trauma-invested practices for fostering resilience in their students.
Come join us for WSASCD’s Fall Conference as Kristin Van Marter Souers (ASCD co-author of Fostering Resilient Learners and the new book, Relationship, Responsibility, and Regulations: Trauma-Invested Practices for Fostering Resilient Learners) leads educators in a deep dive into trauma-invested practices.
Friday, November 4 | 5:30pm–8:30 pm: Dinner and Keynote Saturday, November 5 | 8:30 am–4:30 pm: "Transform" and Breakout Sessions
Tacoma Professional Development Center | 6501 N 23rd St, Tacoma, WA 98406
The 2022 WSCSS Fall Conference is back in-person at the Gates Discovery Center in Seattle. Participation in the Fall Conference is FREE for 2022-23 annual WSCSS* members. Conference space is limited to 150.
Sex Trafficking Prevention Open Education Resource
Sexual Health Education is looking for high school teachers to pilot new lessons in the classroom this year, or to assist with standards alignment. Stipends available.
ALL STUDENTS PREPARED FOR POST-SECONDARY PATHWAYS, CAREERS, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.
Led by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, OSPI oversees K-12 public education in Washington state. Our mission is to provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.