Postponed 2020 Workshops: Update

Postponed 2020 Workshops: Update

By Jeanne M. Moe

The COVID-19 pandemic certainly knocked us all for a loop, but we may be catching up now.  Only two of the professional development events that IHE funded in 2020 were held that year (see Success in the Face of Adversity, 3/10/21).  Since last summer, four more workshops have been completed.

·       Professional Development at Cahokia Mounds (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville).  Eleven teachers and one elementary school student attended a workshop based on Project Archaeology: Investigating Nutrition in the summer of 2021 at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site Interpretive Center. The primary aim was to advance educators’ understanding of the humanistic nature of ancient foodways globally through Project Archaeology’s Investigating Nutrition curriculum, while connecting teachers to the local relevance of archaeology and the unique development of food production in the American Bottom. The teachers loved the curriculum and would like to have a similar guide exploring Cahokia Mounds.

·       Arizona Project Archaeology Workshop for Educators (Arizona Site Steward Program Foundation).  In October 2021, Arizona Project Archaeology had “…an amazing opportunity to connect with teachers, educators, and cultural resource managers (museum docents, park rangers, etc.) from all over Arizona at the combined Arizona Historic Preservation and Arizona Site Steward Program Annual Conferences in Tempe.”  AZPA conducted a four-hour in-person Investigating Shelter professional development workshop for 30 teachers and Site Steward attendees at the Pueblo Grande Museum.

·       Project Archaeology: Investigating a Midwestern Wickiup (Missouri Archaeological Society).  In July 2022, four teachers attended a Project Archaeology: Investigating a Midwestern Wickiup with GIS Story Map workshop at Fort Osage National Historic Landmark. Workshop leader and Missouri Project Archaeology Coordinator, Gail Lundeen, described the group as “small but mighty.”  She feels confident that these four educators will reach many learners and spread the word to other educators.  

·       Exploring Alabama Archaeology in K-12 Classrooms (University of South Alabama Archaeological Museum). Despite a recent bout with COVID, Jen Knutson hosted the workshop in July 2022; eight teachers attended a Project Archaeology: Investigating Shelter workshop for educators. Jen reported, “Our motto was quality not quantity and we had 8 people who attended. One only attended the first day due to covid, so covid is still very much a challenge, 2 years later. However, we continued and the workshop participants said how wonderful it was many times.” 

We are thrilled to see our 2020 professional development events moving forward as planned, albeit two years later. The coronavirus is undoubtedly still a factor in filling workshops, but teachers certainly seem eager to attend in-person professional development, if they possibly can.