Join the Constitutional Democracy Project and the ABA Division for Public Education for an exciting professional development opportunity to empower educators in Illinois, particularly those serving in underserved communities as well as prospective teachers, with dynamic and inclusive resources on American government, history, and civic engagement. Access the tools and knowledge to not only meet but exceed Illinois' inclusive history and civics instruction requirements. Become a part of this program to make a real impact in the classroom and shape the next generation of informed, active citizens!

SAVE THE DATES FOR AN INSPIRING SUMMER OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT!

CHICAGO: JULY 7-11, 2025

CHAMPAIGN: JULY 21-25, 2025  

BENEFITS:

 Professional Development integrated into current standards

 Ready to use classroom resources

 Innovative Curriculum

 Expert Instructors

 Numerous Networking Opportunities

 $2,500 stipend for teachers

 $1,000 stipend for pre-service teachers

 30+ CPDU credits

 Complimentary hotel accommodations provided

TEACHER COMMITMENT:

 Attend scheduled professional development in Chicago OR Champaign

 Participate in all surveys, reflections, & evaluations

 Participate in 2-3 workshops post PD (either on ZOOM or in-person)

 Bring 10 student delegates to Student Constitutional Convention

 Participate in culminating Student Constitutional Convention in Spring 2026

APPLY HERE 

April has several commemorative observances. April is:

• Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month
• Arab American Heritage Month
• National Deaf History Month

Use the links provided above to learn more about each observance. For a complete list of commemorative dates, visit the Illinois Inclusive History Calendar.

Law Day



Law Day, held annually on May 1, is a national day set aside to celebrate the rule of law. Law Day provides an opportunity to understand how law and the legal process protect our liberty, strive to achieve justice, and contribute to the freedoms that all Americans share.

The Constitution enshrines our collective responsibility to one another, and the 2025 Law Day theme urges us to take pride in a Constitution that bridges our differences to bring us together as a united nation. Our civic lives tie us together as one “We,” whether through legislative efforts that serve the common good, through military service, or by working together every day to fulfill the promise of E pluribus unum, or “Out of many, one.”

Click here to sign up for updates from the American Bar Association Divison of Public Education about events and opportunities for your classroom to participate.

Facing History and Ourselves has published the Facilitating Difficult Conversations In Schools white paper to help educational leaders navigate conversations on polarizing topics with empathy, self-awareness, and critical thinking. Adapted from their popular Fostering Civil Discourse classroom guide, this new resource is intended to help leaders leverage their unique position to promote a culture of healthy, respectful, and productive discourse in their school communities.



In this white paper, you’ll learn to differentiate between civil discourse and debate in order to build shared understanding and communicate more effectively. Armed with this knowledge, you’ll then discover actionable tools to equip your staff with a school-wide approach to civil discourse while refining your conversation skills to have the difficult conversations that we know are so important to bridging difference, forming connections, and fostering a more empathetic and inclusive society. Building a positive school climate creates students who are more likely to succeed academically and less likely to engage in bullying. But when their educational environment empowers students and teachers to actually work through tough moments and consider vital questions rather than brushing them under the rug, research shows that young people gain a newfound understanding of the role they play in a functioning democracy. This means they are more likely to vote, participate politically, and engage in civic-minded behavior.

Would you like to develop and deliver news and media literacy education plans across your district in a way that’s sustainable, replicable, and has a lasting impact? 

Apply for the News Literacy Project News Literacy District Fellowship program!

Here are the basics:

• The fellowship requires a three-year commitment from districts.

• In return, the News Literacy Project provides districts with access to experts in the field, professional learning, implementation support and a stipend of $10,000 each year.

• During the first year, fellows work with us to lay the foundation and develop an action plan executing news literacy instruction in their district.

• During the second year, fellows pilot their implementation plans.

• During the third year, they continue this work and expand their impact.

• Participants will be part of a community of administrators, curriculum directors, instructional coaches, discipline leaders and teachers who share expertise and collaborate with NLP on news and media literacy education issues.

Applications are now being accepted for our next cohort of fellows, so apply today. The submission deadline is May 16 at 11:59 p.m. CT.

Join us for a brief info session about the fellowship on Wednesday, April 9 at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.

 Register today!

Want to inspire your students with stories of human progress and innovation? Sphere Education Initiatives is thrilled to offer you our new Human Progress box free of charge. It includes a carefully curated collection of resources to help you effectively teach your students about some of humanity’s greatest advances and change makers. 

Inside this box, you’ll discover:

• Two comprehensive lesson booklets exploring Centers of Progress and Heroes of Progress 
• Companion paperback books perfect for student reading and research 
• Engaging classroom materials including themed posters, sticky notes, stress balls, and stickers 



These interdisciplinary resources are designed to spark meaningful discussions and encourage learning. Use sticky notes to mark discussion points, pass the stress ball for dynamic class participation, or share stickers with colleagues to promote cross-disciplinary engagement. 

The collection draws from HumanProgress.org, a project of the Cato Institute that began in 2013 to gather empirical data on worldwide trends in human advancement. Resources provided in this box have been compiled and presented in accessible ways so that teachers, students, and other educational stakeholders can use them. 

Ready to transform your teaching? Click the button below to request a Human Progress box for your classroom! Supplies are limited, so act now.

Request a Human Progress Box



iCivics Private i History Detectives resources introduce impactful stories in American history that are not often found in textbooks. These lessons will develop students’ civic dispositions and critical thinking skills while teaching social studies in a fun and engaging way.

• Teach the importance of civic-mindedness: In this mystery, students will analyze primary sources including photos, artwork, and articles to llearn how Clara Barton channeled civic-mindedness to help soldiers during the American Civil War,

• Teach the power of perseverance: In this mystery, students will learn how Wilma Rudolph used perseverance to overcome polio and racial barriers on her journey to becoming a track and field champion.

Engage your students further with accompanying bookmarks! These printable bookmarks include vocabulary and a discussion question to keep the investigative fun going.

• Download Full Color Set
• Download Black/White Set

Two new lessons accompany a new film from Retro Report about the Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court ruling and its connection to current conversations about students’ free speech rights.

One lesson and activity is perfect for Civics, Government ,and U.S. History classes. Students will examine several cases to determine how Supreme Court decisions shape the boundaries of student expression in schools.

Another lesson and activity is suited for upper-level or Advanced Placement Government classes. It introduces the skill of examining Supreme Court opinions. Students will analyze majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions. 

Explore New Resources



If you’ve been wondering how to use AI in a way that actually supports student creativity and critical thinking (without replacing their voices), KQED's new course Partner with GenAI to Elevate Authentic Student Voice is for you! Start exploring how you can work with Generative AI in your classroom, not against it, and apply the principles from our GenAI Guidelines to help students navigate this technology responsibly. Designed for 6-12 educators, this course is free and available fully online.

Upcoming Workshop:

GenAI Guidelines for Student Media Making: Centering Youth Voice, Ethics, and Productivity 

Online workshop, April 8, 2-3pm PT

Learn more about our GenAI guidelines! This live EdWebinar will examine ways to customize ChatGPT when your students are developing audio and video scripts and writing in other genres.



Hometown is coming to Chicago this fall! The Supreme Court and My Hometown program is an immersive federal court learning experience from the Supreme Court Historical Society designed to teach high school students about the Judicial Branch through a Supreme Court case that originated in their hometown. This prestigious program allows students to engage with federal judges, attorneys, local professors, historians, and community members as they investigate cases and explore how a case moves through the federal (and state) court system.

More information and applications for each program can be found on the Society’s website.

Learn More



The OAV Civics Curriculum for Illinois Middle Schools (Illinois Civics Curriculum) was developed with the assistance of a grant made possible by the Illinois State Senate under the leadership of Senator Don Harmon. It is available free to all middle schools in Illinois.

The Illinois Civics Curriculum employs the ten OAV essential lessons fine-tuned to ensure alignment with Illinois middle school requirements for the content and process of implementation. As with the OAV Civics Curriculum, it includes implementation instructions and summative assessments. In addition, it provides examples of student civic engagement projects and a civic engagement planning template.

LEARN MORE



Join the AHA and thousands of people united by a shared passion for history at the 139th annual meeting of the AHA in Chicago from Thursday, January 8 to Sunday, January 11, 2026. The largest gathering of historians in the world, the conference brings together historians, including K-12 educators, working in a diverse array of settings to discuss professional issues, the latest research, new publications and resources, and much more. The AHA will partner with the Chicago History Museum to provide Illinois Professional Development credit for eligible attendees.

Registration will open mid-September, 2025. Sign up for news and updates from the AHA or join the AHA as a member to ensure you don’t miss important updates about the meeting.

K–12 teachers can register for the AHA conference at a significantly discounted rate of more than 50% off the regular cost of registration. Registration will open in mid-September 2025.

David B. Wiegers

Thursday, April 3, 2025

7pm CT (Zoom webinar)

Join ALPLM Thursday, April 3, 2025, at 7pm CT, for a presentation and discussion with author and photographer David B. Wiegers on Women Sculptors as featured in his article Wildfire, Miss Clampitt, and the Wonder Girl from the West: Early Women Sculptors of Abraham Lincoln, published in the Lincoln Forum Bulletin Spring 2024 edition.

In the middle of the 19th century, women were not generally a force in American sculpture. Art, and especially sculpture, were a male-centric occupation. Three women sculpted images of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s and 1870s. Vinnie Ream (Hoxie) and Sarah Fisher Ames produced images of Lincoln that would be displayed in the United States Capitol building. A third, Edmonia Lewis, broke many barriers of race and gender.

Lincoln buff and talented amateur photographer David B. Wiegers has an abiding interest in Abraham Lincoln. His photographs of Lincoln statues have been seen in Summers with Lincoln and Public Sculptures of Abraham Lincoln by Jim Percoco, American Art Review Magazine, and in Fred Reed’s books Abraham Lincoln – The Image of His Greatness and Abraham Lincoln – Beyond the American Icon. Fifty of Wiegers’s photographs were included in Lincoln Hall at the University of Illinois by John Hoffman. In May 2022, Wiegers and colleague Scott Schroeder published an online Google Map titled The Lincoln Sculpture Project’s Lincoln Sculpture Map on Google. Wiegers and his wife Wendy, live in Gurnee, Illinois.

Register Here

Dr. Frank W. Garmon Jr.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

7pm CT (Zoom webinar)

Join ALPLM Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at 7pm CT, for an enlightening discussion with author Dr. Frank W. Garmon on his latest book A Wonderful Career in Crime: Charles Cowlam’s Masquerades in the Civil War Era and Gilded Age.

The book traces the career of Charles Cowlam, a Gilded Age swindler who received presidential pardons from Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. His intrigues reveal how Americans built trust amidst the transience and anonymity of the nineteenth century and exposes the vulnerabilities of a political system built on personal connections. 

Frank W. Garmon Jr. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership and American Studies at Christopher Newport University, specializing in American political economy. Garmon received the Provost’s Award for Faculty Excellence in Teaching Student Writing in 2023, and his first book, A Wonderful Career in Crime: Charles Cowlam’s Masquerades in the Civil War Era and Gilded Age, was published by Louisiana State University Press in the fall of 2024.

Register Here

Register for the Guardians of Democracy Courses HERE!



How can you build engagement around civics and foster a proper understanding of American citizenship? Introduce your students to the MyImpact Challenge!

MyImpact Challenge is a civic engagement contest and curriculum provided by the Bill of Rights Institute (BRI) to create a robust understanding of citizenship and incentivize students to become active in their communities now! To participate, students must have an active civic engagement or service-based project. Students will learn how their projects align with constitutional principles through the contest. To submit a project, students must:

• Write an essay detailing how their project furthers a BRI Civic Virtue or Founding Principle
• Complete a report describing how their project works
• Provide photographic or visual documentation of their project

Each MyImpact Challenge submission has the potential to win up to $500 in teacher prizes. Students can win up to $10,000 in student prizes.

The deadline to enter MyImpact Challenge is May 18, 2025, 11:59 PM. 

Share MyImpact Challenge



The first draft of the 2025 Summer Social Studies Professional Development opportunities spreadsheet is now available. As you take a peek, anything that is NOT highlighted is currently open.

There are SO many great opportunities for next summer!

Many thanks to Stefanie Wager at the Iowa Department of Education for creating this calendar and updating the spreadsheet as more opportunities open.