Many organizations offer amazing summer Professional Development for Social Studies teachers. If you can make a state-level or national-level summer PD work into your schedule, it is SO worth it. Here are the top four things I love about summer PD (with travel!) for Social Studies teachers:
- meeting other highly-motivated Social Studies teachers who love what they do
- learning about history where it happened
- feeling inspired about teaching
- being treated as a true professional (think sit-down meals!)
Before kids, I applied for every summer PD for Social Studies teachers that I could. I always worked a summer job, but if I gave enough notice, I could get a week off. Now that I have young children, I limit my summer PD attendance to the local level. But when my kids get older, I’ll definitely go back to applying for other opportunities that involve travel, like the amazing programs below.
If applying for programs like these takes you out of your comfort zone … do it! You will gain so much from being around other amazing Social Studies teachers. And, I promise, you are JUST as deserving of these opportunities as anyone else!
Street Law Supreme Court Summer Institute for Teachers
This six-day institute in Washington, D.C. provides amazing access to the U.S. Supreme Court. When I attended in 2003, we toured the Supreme Court, met both a sitting Justice (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and a future Justice (John Roberts), and sat in the courtroom when they handed down some of the term’s most-anticipated decisions.
Eligibility: 7th-12th grade Social Studies or Law-Related teachers
Cost: The $150 registration fee includes all materials and most meals. Participants get discounted rooms at a nearby hotel. You pay for travel and housing. There is an opportunity to earn a $200 after completing the Institute.
Session dates: June 12-17, 2024 or June 20-25, 2024
Website: Street Law Supreme Court Summer Institute for Teachers website.
Supreme Court Institute Deadline to apply: March 1, 2024
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops
Looking to travel this summer OR stay close to home? NEH offers a wide variety of one-week Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for Social Studies teachers, grades K-12. Topics for Summer 2024 include “Freedom Summer: 60 Years Later” (Jackson, MS), “Wide-Open Town: Kansas City in the Jazz Age and Great Depression” (Kansas City, MO), and “LGBTQ+ Histories of the United States” (New York, NY). There are MANY others to check out as well.
I have completed two Landmarks Workshops over the years – one at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon and the other in Lowell, Massachusetts. Both were amazing experiences and learning opportunities. I found myself touring Lowell boarding houses, enjoying wine and cheese overlooking the Potomac, and so much more. The directors of both programs were professional and organized. I made friends I am still in touch with a decade later. Neither of these Landmarks Workshops are offered this summer, but there are so many other outstanding options, including another program in Lowell mentioned above.
Eligibility: K-12th grade teachers
Cost: You pay for your travel and housing. All participants are eligible to receive a stipend to help offset costs related to attending an Institutes or Landmarks program. Stipend amounts are based upon the format and length of the program. (For example, one week residential program participants receive a $1,300 stipend.)
Website: NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops (be sure you are looking at programs marked “Landmarks” on the website – these are the one-week long programs for K-12 educators.)
NEH Landmarks Deadline to Apply for Summer 2024: March 5, 2024
transatlantic outreach program – study tour of germany
The Transatlantic Outreach Program (aka TOP) provides an amazing opportunity to travel outside of the country FOR FREE! TOP offers two-week study tours of Germany. Applicants must be employed full-time as an educator of social studies or STEM subjects in the Unites States or Canada. Each tour is unique from the others, so there is no one set itinerary, but each tour includes a mix of big city/smaller towns in Germany.
I traveled with TOP in Summer 2012, and my tour included time in Weimar, Nuremberg, Berlin, and Wittenberg, among other places. I traveled with 15 other Social Studies teachers from around the U.S. Our tour included opportunities to study history, culture, the education system, and business as well as enjoy delicious food and drink and socialize. This tour was truly one of the best opportunities of my lifetime. I would go again in a heartbeat if TOP allowed repeat travelers!
TOP Deadline to apply for Summer 2024: Sunday, February 11, 2024
Cost: It is virtually no-cost to teachers who are selected! Thanks to the support of its public and private partners, TOP pays for most domestic and international transportation fees, hotel accommodation, two meals per day while abroad (usually breakfast and dinner), and any mandatory study tour related fees, such as museum entry, etc. Each participant will have his or her own hotel room.
Website: Transatlantic Outreach Program
I hope programs like these are on your radar for this coming summer. But, if not, bookmark these sites and keep them in mind for a future summer. Attending programs like these can truly be transformational for you and your teaching.
