Saving Vermont Women's History

The following letter is from Christine Smith, History teacher at Spaulding High School

Dear Colleagues:

Ann Reynolds Story, Lucy Terry Prince, Clarina Howard Nichols, Emma Willard, Abby Hemenway, Electra Havemeyer Webb, Consuelo Northrop Bailey, Doris Morning Dove Minckler

These are all women who helped to shape our state, but many Vermonters, including educators, have never heard of them.

If you have, chances are it’s because of the Vermont Women’s History Project, sponsored by the Vermont Commission on Women, which has been working for the last five years to revive our awareness of Vermont women’s history.

Our work with the Vermont History Expo has inspired local historical societies to rediscover important women their own archives. Collaboration with the Vermont Humanities Council and the Champlain Quadricentennial Committee has enabled us to present lectures and produce research on other women of historical significance. Finally, we sponsor a conference for teachers and high school students in the Northeast Kingdom, called “My Story Matters.”

Through our newly created web site and data base, researchers, educators, students and the public now have easy access to information on Vermont women. The web site is also linked to the state’s tourism site so that people can find related events and attractions. It’s already become a model for other states: http://www.womenshistory.vermont.gov/.

A proposed merger with the Vermont Historical Society will ensure the continuation of projects like these. However, we must first demonstrate that there is strong community support for women’s history in Vermont by raising $12,000 by June 30. To that end, there are two ways you could help: 1) send a donation, or 2) look at the website/database and contact the VHS in order to show your support. You may contact the new director of the VHS Mark Hudson at Mark.Hudson@state.vt.us and send a copy to Jane Campbell at Jane.Campbell@state.vt.us.

For more information, please contact me, Christine Smith, or Judith Irving, Director of the Vermont Women’s History Project .

Christine Smith
Spaulding HS
155 Ayers Street
Barre, VT
History200@aol.com
Tel 802-476-4811 (ex 2217)
Cell 802-371-9439

Judith Irving
Vermont Women's History Project
Vermont Commission on Women
126 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05633-6801
judith.irving@state.vt.us
www.womenshistory.vermont.gov
Tel 802-828-5940
Cell 802-279-0098

Hanging Judges, Outlaws, and the Trail of Tears: Vermont Students Connect to the Old West with New Technology

Imagine touring a national park and soaking in its history — all without ever stepping foot on the property. That’s exactly what students in Vermont did, thanks to a virtual field trip project by several students from Howe Public Schools in Oklahoma.

Middle school and high school students in Tammy Parks’ broadcast journalism class at Howe presented an interactive presentation last week for fourth- and sixth-grade students in Irasburg, Vt., broadcasting live from the Fort Smith National Historic Site via video conferencing equipment and the Internet, according to Parks. The collaboration projects will be submitted as entries in the Kids Creating Community Content International Contest, a competition in which Tandberg and the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration challenge middle school and high school teams to develop and present a videoconferencing program about their community.

“It’s an opportunity to take something in your students’ back yard and share with another group of students in the United States, or this year it went international,” said Parks, who teaches broadcast journalism at Howe Public Schools. Armed with three video conferencing units, a mobile commander (which is basically a satellite, according to Parks) and some cameras, the two Howe teams — one made up of six eighth-grade students and the other of six ninth-graders — presented different programs for the Vermont students.

The high school project, “Indian Territory, Western Lawmen and Outlaws: Tales from the Courthouse of 'Hanging Judge' Parker,” took students on a virtual tour of the old and new jails and Parker’s courtroom, along with sharing the stories of Anna Dawes, Cherokee Bill and marshals and deputy marshals who rode for Parker. In “Trail of Tears, Frontier Forts and the Notorious ‘Hanging Judge’ of the Wild West: Tales from the Fort Smith National Historic Site,” the Howe middle-schoolers also conducted a virtual field trip of the old and new jails, the gallows and Parker’s courtroom, as well as shared information on the Trail of Tears, the first and second forts and Parker himself.

“They were live and interactive,” said Parks, who is also director of federal programs for Howe Public Schools. “They were in live chat ... during the presentation.” Parks said the middle-school presentation also included a hands-on activity, in which the students in Vermont were sent a haversack kit and the Howe students led them in the creation of the haversack during the live video presentation.“ And we threw a T-shirt from Howe to Vermont,” Parks said, explaining that a shirt had been mailed to teacher Sean Wallace in Vermont and as the Howe students pitched the shirt toward the camera, Wallace threw the shirt from around the monitor to the classroom in Vermont. “They just loved it. They thought that was great.”

Parks said the partnership with the Vermont school, which was arranged after she posted a collaboration request online, was good in that both schools were about the same size and are both in rural areas. Some of Wallace’s sixth-grade students were quite intrigued with the experience, he said. Irasburg sixth-grader Cody Cole thought the gallows were pretty neat and wished they provided more information about them; he was surprised that people were sent to jail for drinking whiskey. “He also wondered why the rest of the Daltons turned to a life of crime after their brother was shot,” Wallace said.

Kiana Badan was fascinated with the story of Cherokee Bill and the association with the unlucky number 13, he added. “We all thought it was interesting that they were reporting without coats and we were able to see grass at the historical site,” Wallace said. “That day was 5 degrees here and we had snow everywhere.”

Prior to the field trip, participating students had access to an online classroom module specifically designed for this venue and topic. Developed using Moodle, the learning community gave students knowledge about the topic through a variety of learning tools, including forums, glossaries, Wikis, chats and quizzes. Wallace said many of his students enjoyed visiting the Moodle online classroom and playing the games, particularly Hangman. The Howe students also spent a Saturday at the National Historic Site conducting research and visited the park the week before the live presentation for a practice run-through.

The above article by Pam Cloud was reprinted from the Times Record from Friday, February 20, 2009.

Online Partnerships Around Social Studies Content

One of the most exciting uses of Web 2.0 tools today in the classroom is for collaborating - either with a content provider through video conferencing or with another classroom in a different location around the U.S. or world. The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC) is one nonprofit that you can use to do both (CILC is the site that Sean Wallace used to find his partners in the story above.)

Content

Educators can choose from more than 900 teacher-evaluated, national standards-based programs at www.cilc.org. CILC partners with over 150 national and international content providers to offer programs ranging from the sciences to math to history and more.

Collaboration
Through CILC’s Collaboration Center, you can post and search for collaborative learning
opportunities to engage students in active learning exchange. The following are some examples of requests that teachers are currently posting:

· I'd like my newly formed Debate Club (grades 7 & 8) to hold a live debate with another middle school. We meet after school 3-4:30. We're located in NJ.
· Are your 3rd graders studying a country in Africa? If so, a Long Island, NY, 3rd grade class would like to collaborate with you. The NY class has been studying Kenya and would like to share what they've learned with another class.
· Some students from our school are travelling to Japan in April 2009. We would like to meet up with Japanese school to learn more about the culture and share some of our Canadian culture.
· Our 2nd grade classes study rural, urban, and suburban communities. We would like very much to find rural and urban partners for an opportunity to compare and contrast our communities
· Looking for partnering classrooms who were originally a part of the Louisiana Purchase, which include AR, OK, MO, IA, MN, ND, SD, KS, CO, WY, and MT.
· We would love to have a school in Alaska collaborate with us on a year long building wide project as we explore Alaskan culture, history, education and the actual Iditarod race.
· I am looking for a partner school outside the U.S. that would be interested in using a Polycom video conferencing system. We would use it to discuss cultural similarities and differences as well as key topics such as global warming, childhood poverty, genocide, the new flat world.
· "I am a Citizen of the World" Media literacy course of High school students looking for same age group or college students who are interested in having dialogue on cultural and global issues of varying topics.
· Students in the grade levels 8, 9 are working with GPS Units; this has been great for our students and would like to collaborate with another school using GPS!

Visit CILC's website at http://www.cilc.org/ to find out about content or collaboration opportunities for your classroom (click on the "Content for Students" tab at the top of the page.)

Women's History through a Current Lens: The Status of Girls and Women in Vermont

March is Women’s History Month. One fascinating way to bridge women’s history to what is happening today is by looking at the newly released report “The Status of Girls and Women in Vermont” by the Vermont Commission on Women. You can find the full report at http://www.women.state.vt.us/pdfs/VCW%20Status%20Rpt%2009.pdf.

Would any of the following statistics change if women’s contributions to our country - both historic and current - were fully understood by today’s students?

Politics and Government:
In her book, Pearls Politics & Power: How Women Can Win and Lead, Governor Madeleine Kunin lists a number of reasons why women are reluctant to run for public office: lack of confidence, enduring public criticism, raising money, taking the risk of losing, and giving up their privacy. However, in Vermont, when women decide to run for the legislature they are much more likely then men to win.

Colorado has the largest percentage of women in the legislature at 39%; New Hampshire is in second place with 37.3% and Vermont is a close third with 37.2%.

In 2008 there were 283 select boards with a total of 1,010 members. However, only 19% were women. Overall, 88% of select boards had no women members or were male-dominated.

Jobs and the Economy:
The wage gap is real in Vermont. In 2006 the median wage for a man was $16.08/hour while the median wage for a woman was $13.82/hour resulting in almost $5,000 less a year for the typical Vermont family to take care of basic needs. Vermont’s wage gap is smaller than some other states because Vermont has fewer manufacturing jobs and fewer minority women who historically have been paid only 50-60% of what men make.

What Vermont Teen Girls Say About Health and Wellness:
Body Image
• 95% felt appearance was somewhat to very important
• 39% were concerned about being overweight
• 40% reported thinking negatively about their body one to three times a week
• 60% compare their bodies to celebrities

Habits and Behaviors
• 1 in 20 reported considering suicide every day
• 1 in 8 struggles with feeling sad and hopeless every day
• 1 in 33 binge and purge to lose weight
• 21% skip breakfast
• 67% of respondents spend 1‐3 hours on the phone, computer, playing video games, text messaging or watching TV
• 60% indicated they had ridden in a car with a driver who was talking or text messaging on a cell phone

Over twice as many girls as boys in grades 9-12 reported depression in 2005.

Education
More women have a bachelor’s degree or higher than men in Vermont for every age group under 65. Having a college degree pays off in future earnings for both men and women. However a woman with a college degree only earns a few hundred dollars more than a man with a high school diploma; a woman with a graduate or professional degree earns less than a man with a bachelor’s degree.

Education does not erase or mitigate the wage gap.

Poverty is highly correlated with educational attainment. However, at almost every level of educational attainment, women are almost twice as likely to live in poverty.

Go go http://delicious.com/sigridlumbra and click on the tag "womenshistory" to find many women's history resources you can use in your classroom.

Women's History Month Events in Vermont

For more information about women's history in Vermont, visit the Vermont Women's History Project web site at http://www.womenshistory.vermont.gov/.

March 3
7pm. Madeleine Kunin at Johnson State College. Former three-term Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin will give a talk entitled Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin: What Impact Have They Had on Women in Leadership?. Stearns Student Center Stage Space, Johnson State College. Info: www.jsc.edu/

7pm. Women, War, and Displacement Series Film Showing: The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. Hoehl Welcome Center, St. Michael's College. Info:www.smcvt.edu/admission/events/events.asp

March 4
7pm. The History of Herbal Medicine in America. Presented by prominent herbalist Rosemary Gladstar. Part of First Wednesdays Lecture Series presented by the Vermont Humanities Council. The Atheneum, St. Johnsbury. Info: #(802)748-8291

7pm. Women, War, and Displacement series discussion: Rape as a Weapon of War: Violence against Women in Eastern Congo. Jocelyn Kelly, research coordinator at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiatives, will speak about sexual violence against women in Eastern Congo, the Panzi Hospital, and the importance of advocacy for rape victims. Hoehl Welcome Center, St. Michael's College. Info:www.smcvt.edu/admission/events/events.asp

March 5
7pm. Women, War, and Displacement Series: Stories of Local Women. A panel of local refugees share their stories. St. Edmund's Hall Farrell Room (3rd floor), St. Michael's College. Info:http://www.smcvt.edu/admission/events/events.asp

March 6
7pm. Women, War, and Displacement series film. Taxi to the Darkside: the story of Dilawar, a taxi driver who was detained in Afghanistan in 2002 and who died in American custody at the prison in Bagram a few months later. Center for Women and Gender Studies, St. Michael's College. Info: www.smcvt.edu/admission/events/events.asp

March 14
10-5pm. Vermont Women's Expo 2009. Vendors, Sponsors, Charity Auctions, and more. $5 admission at door. Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center. Info: http://www.celebratevermontwomen.com/

March 23
Time and Place TBA. Being the Change You Wish to See: Women of Color & Social Justice Advocacy A panel discussion with women of color on their work in social justice. Panelists are Jacqui Patterson of Action Aid and Health GAP, Mercedes Mack of Jubilee USA, and Siham Elhamoumi of Vermont Global Health Coalition. St. Michael's College.

March 26
Time and Place TBA. Samantha 'Rastles' the Woman Question: a one-woman show about Samantha, a late 19th century rustic philosopher, with humor planted squarely on the side of sensible women's rights. Solo performer Jane Curry has a knack for provoking thought and laughter with her shows, and has performed since 1983, all over the U.S. St. Michael's College. Info: #(802)654-2667.