EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville Community Unit School District #7 is pleased to announce that Rachel Harris, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Liberty Middle School has been selected as a delegate to the We the Teachers: Preparing the Next Generation Through History and Civics national fellowship program at William & Mary.
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Led by W&M’s Strategic Cultural Partnerships division and undertaken in partnership with the National Council for History Education (NCHE), the program is funded by a $2.89 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education — the largest such award to a Virginia institution of higher learning under the American History and Civics Education National Activities program.
Timed to the nation’s 250th anniversary, We the Teachers reinforces the university’s national reputation for developing civic leadership and will equip teachers with evidence-based pedagogy to create stronger learning outcomes for students across the country.
Harris is among 100 teacher delegates selected from all 50 states to attend the Congress of Educators, a four-day residential institute taking place in July 2026 across the Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown.
Hosted at W&M and partner cultural institutions, the Congress will immerse delegates in primary source analysis, historical inquiry, civil dialogue, and evidence-based argumentation — connecting America’s founding principles to classroom-ready practice.
Fellows will return to their schools equipped with professional video recordings, facilitator guides, and classroom resources to launch local professional learning communities. The initiative aims to establish at least 100 such communities nationwide, each engaging 15 or more educators.
Delegates also receive early access to free, on-demand micro courses and digital credentials through the “Educating for the 250th” micro credential pathway, built on lilyPD, an innovative teacher professional development platform designed by Strategic Cultural Partnerships and launched for public beta in Spring 2026.
“This fellowship confirms the work of moving students beyond learning history as content and into using it as a framework for decision-making,” said Harris. “My focus has been designing structures where students analyze the past to take informed civic action in their own communities, and this experience will allow me to scale that work with greater clarity and impact.”
