Teach the District 2024: By the Numbers

The Teach the District 2024 cohort poses in front of the Carnegie Library. Photo by Phillip Warfield.

In July of this year, 15 stellar DC educators participated in Teach the District, the DC History Center’s professional development program that seeks to bring local history to life—no matter what subject the educator teaches. Educators are competitively selected, participate on their own time, and are paid for their participation.

They represented:

2 SCHOOL SYSTEMS (DCPS, DC Public Charter)

8 WARDS

8 SPECIALTIES

English Language Arts
Law
Math
Music History and Performance
Reading Intervention
Science
Social Studies
Special Education

10 GRADES (3-12)

14 SCHOOLS

Browne Education Campus
Columbia Heights Education Campus
Garrison Elementary
Hendley Elementary
Jackson-Reed High School
Jefferson Academy Middle School
Johnson Middle School
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
Powell Elementary School
Raymond Elementary School
River Terrace Elementary School
Sousa Middle School
Stuart-Hobson Middle School
Two Rivers Public Charter School

The 2024 Teach the District program included a field trip to Piscataway Park led by the Accokeek Foundation. Photo by Phillip Warfield.

These teachers experienced: 

5 DAYS co-learning with cultural heritage professionals and their cohort of K-12 educators across disciplines and grade levels

4 DAYS of hands-on learning with DC History Center collection materials about local history, neighborhoods, the fight for statehood, land loss and displacement, changemakers in DC, and more.

And because you can’t do all that on an empty stomach: 5 CATERED LUNCHES, always including dessert!

3 HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS per educator requested from the DC History Center collections. In a single day, Librarian Alex Aspiazu pulled all the collection requests (and then some!) so the educators could get busy researching Thursday morning.

2 FIELD TRIPS to cultural heritage sites.

• • • • • Anacostia Community Museum — where we had 1 CURATOR GUIDED EXHIBIT TOUR  of Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, DC, 1900–2000
        • Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park — where we experienced 1 LAND ECHOES FIELD TRIP and received  1 IN DEPTH OVERVIEW of the history of indigenous peoples of the DC region from a member of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe.

 1 HOST SITE offering behind-the-scenes access, hands-on collections research, brainstorming sessions, and group reflection time. Previously run with additional partners, this was the DC History Center’s first time as the sole host, and it was all hands on deck for our 11-person staff!

RESOURCES

• • • • • 1 CURRICULUM BINDER for 1st-5th GRADE  from the Clarice Smith Neighborhood History Program
        • 1 LIBGUIDE where we share countless resources with educators, whether they’ve done the Teach the District program or not. With over 1,169 views, it is one of our most used resources.

Educator Destini Collins looks closely at panoramic photos in the DC History Center’s collection. Photo by Phillip Warfield.

AND ONE LAST MAJOR UPDATE… the 2025 National History Day theme is Rights and Responsibilities in History. And the DC contest will be IN-PERSON this year, planned by the DC History Center!

DC History Center

This program’s year-long planning and execution of the July Teach the District 2024 session was led by the entire staff of the DC History Center, with Education Intern and Howard University graduate student Tamia McDonald and Collections Intern and University of Maryland graduate student Alexus Eudell joining the team this summer. Previous Education Intern and current Howard University PhD candidate Phillip Warfield documented the week through photos and videos. Support for the DC History Center’s participation in the program was provided by the Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia and through generous individual donations.