Kildee Announces Flint Community Schools to Receive Almost $500,000 for American History Program

WASHINGTON - Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) announced today that the Flint Community Schools will receive a three-year grant totaling $499,999 under the Teaching American History Grants Program.  The U.S. Department of Education awarded the grant to Flint Community Schools so they can implement their comprehensive instructional program using Flint as a case study for African-American history in the northern United States from 1778 to 1980.

“This grant will allow Flint Community Schools to pursue a program that will improve student performance in American history using Flint as a resource,” said Kildee.  “We have a responsibility to do all we can to ensure that our future citizens know about the history and culture not only of our country but the communities in which they live.”

Flint Community Schools will use this funding to implement their professional development titled: Freedom Quest: A Study of American History with a Focus on African-American History in the North Using Flint, Michigan, as a Case Study.  Flint Community Schools has partnered with the History and African-American Studies Departments of the University of Michigan-Flint, Hofstra University of New York, the Alfred P. Sloan Museum of Flint, the Flint Public Library, and the Genesee County Historical Society to develop this program.

The Teaching America Grants Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, funds initiatives that raise student achievement by improving teachers' knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American history.  The grants promote the teaching of traditional American history in elementary and secondary schools as a separate academic subject and improve the quality of history instruction by supporting professional development for American history teachers.