New Hampshire Council for the Social Studies |

NHCSS Conference

Where: Radisson Hotel/Center of NH, Manchester-700 Elm Street, Manchester, NH
When: Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Click on Links below to download

Brochure (Register and Conference information)

Volunteer Registration

Conference Presenter Application

Quesions? E-mail ngagnon@conval.edu

MISSION STATEMENT

The NHCSS is dedicated to developing an active and informed citizenry by strengthening and supporting social studies education in New Hampshire through all parts of the social studies – civics, economics, geography, history, sociology, psychology, archaeology, anthropology and law. GOALS

To actively advocate for the social studies within the educational community, as well as within the framework of the New Hampshire governmental system.
To recognize excellence in social studies teaching at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
To provide resources and professional development for current and future social studies teachers.
To provide a forum for social studies educators at all levels of instruction so that they can interact and learn from each other.

February 15, 2016

Dear Member of the Community:

On December 10, 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act, (ESSA), was signed into law by Congress creating multiple new competitive grants to support high quality instruction in civics, economics, geography and history. The President’s budget request came out on February 9th, and it did not include requests for some of the new social studies grants. ESSA is being passed along to the Appropriations Committee for review, and as such, will determine whether or not funding will be provided for areas of social studies, including geography education.

In support of the funding, Representatives Ross (R-FL) and Graham (D-FL) have circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter to all Members of the House of Representatives, inviting them to sign a letter to Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro asking for funds for the competitive grants. You are encouraged to call or email the legislative assistant who handles education appropriations for your Congressperson and notify them about your stance regarding your Representative signing onto the Ross-Graham Dear Colleague letter in support of funding for high quality civic and social studies education.

If you do not know who your Representative is, go to www.house.gov and enter your zip code in the box located at the top right corner of the page for the name of the Congressperson who represents you.

If you do not know who the education appropriations legislative assistant is, call 202-225-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative’s office. Ask the receptionist for the name of the staffer who handles education funding. Then ask to leave a voice mail, or ask for the email address of that staffer. It is preferable to call the Congressperson’s Office and leave a message.

HERE IS THE MESSAGE FOR YOU TO GIVE TO THE STAFF MEMBER:

– My name is __________ and I live in ______ (town) _________ in your district.

– I am (calling/writing) because I am concerned about the quality of instruction in civics, economics, geography and history in our schools.

– Tell the representative why or why not your local schools need help from the federal government to offer high quality instruction in these social studies subjects – keeping in mind these subjects are vital to our country and the future of our students.

– Feel free to explain your direction of support or opposition of the funding with your Representative, and as such, potentially urging them to sign on to the Dear Colleague letter circulated by Representatives Ross and Graham in support of funding for high quality instruction in civics, economics, geography and history and fund ALL of the grant areas – keeping in mind that geography has been a subject that has not received funding in the past via the No Child Left Behind Act.

– If you have any questions about why I am in support/opposition of this funding, please contact me at (email address or phone number).
{End of draft alert to your network}

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

For history, geography, civics and economics the ESSA creates:

· a competitive grant program for non-profit organizations to run intensive, 2 to 6 week long academies in American history, civics and government for high school students and for teachers. (Title II, Part B, Sup-part 3, American History and Civic Education, Section 2232)

· a competitive grant program for non-profit organizations to develop and disseminate innovative approaches to offering high quality instruction in American history, civics, government and geography for under-served students. (Title II, Part B, Sup-part 3, American History and Civic Education, Section 2233 – This is the Section CMS wrote, our ‘Sandra Day O’Connor Act’ language)

· local education agencies (ie, school districts) are required to use a certain percentage of their federal money on coursework that supports a well-rounded education. LEAs can choose from a list of subjects that specifically includes history, civics, economics and geography as well as foreign languages, the arts, and other subjects, LEAs can partner with non-profits on this funding. (Title IV, Part A, Sub-part 1, Section 4107, Well Rounded Education Opportunities)

· a new research and innovation fund is created that allows LEAs, in conjunction with nonprofit organizations, to apply for funding to create, implement, replicate, or take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated innovations to improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students. Innovations in teaching civics, history, social studies are eligible for grants. (Title IV, Part F, Sub-part 1 Education Innovation and Research) Note: This could be the source of much needed funding for evaluations of your programs.

Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.

Constitution Day Winners 2014
NH History Day Winners
Constitution Day Winners 2013
Two New Hampshire Students Selected for United States Senate Youth Program

Calling all Elementary School Teachers!

Have you wanted to join state educator organizations but didn’t know which ones to join, and found that it was too expensive to join all of them?   The state educator organizations of the four core discipline groups have come together to offer elementary teachers a special combined rate of $50.00 to join all four of the following state organizations; NHTM, NHCTE, NHCSS and NHSTA.

New Hampshire Teachers of Mathematics (NHTM) www.nhmathteachers.org/ 
(who are acting as the agent for all four organizations) (Membership in NHJEM does not include membership in ATMNE)

New Hampshire Council of Teachers of English (NHCTE) www.nhcte.org/

New Hampshire Council for the Social Studies (NHCSS) www.nhcss.org/

New Hampshire Science Teachers Association (NHSTA) www.nhsta.net/

The benefits of a New Hampshire Joint Elementary Membership (NHJEM) are:
Newsletters from all four organizations, full of news, events, resources, activities, and classroom ideas; The opportunity to become involved with the organizations by serving on committees or the Boards of Directors;

Access to high-quality, content-rich professional development opportunities;
Connection with hundreds of other elementary as well as middle and high school teachers across the state; and member rates to selected workshops, conferences, and other activities for all four state organizations. (Please see the organization websites for details.)

Please note – you are joining the 4 New Hampshire STATE level organizations (not the national ones!!)   Feel free to make suggestions, offer your expertise, or get answers to your questions.

NHJEM – $50.00 (USD) Subscription period: 1 year No recurring payments
New Joint Elementary Membership to Four Teaching OrganizationsFor more information, please contact our treasurer, Ron Adams, and please reference JEM on the subject line!

Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society is the only national organization for high school juniors and seniors that recognizes excellence in the field of Social Studies. Any accredited public or private high school can apply for a local chapter, through which individuals will be inducted into Rho Kappa Honor Society.

Rho Kappa provides national recognition and opportunities for exploration in the social studies. Through its sponsorship of Rho Kappa, NCSS hopes to encourage an interest in, understanding of, and appreciation for the social studies. <More>

Workshops

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Board Meetings

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