Melinda Jeffers Billings, a Ryan Elementary School teacher, was selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants to participate in the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institute the week of July 18-22.

Each year, the Library of Congress provides the opportunity for a carefully chosen group of grades K-12 educators to attend one of its seven Teacher Institutes in Washington, D.C. During the five-day program, participants work with Library education specialists and subject matter experts to learn effective practices for using primary sources in the classroom, while exploring some of the millions of digitized historical artifacts and documents available on the Library’s website.

“I am amazed at the primary resources available to teachers,” Billlings said after attending the Institute.  “I also am excited about sharing my training with my fellow teachers in my school and, hopefully, the district.”
Educators attending the Teacher Institutes develop primary-source-based teaching strategies they can take back to their school districts, apply in the classroom and pass along to colleagues. Teaching with primary sources is a powerful way to help students ask engaged, probing questions; develop critical thinking skills; and construct knowledge.

The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Many of the Library’s resources and treasures also may be accessed through the Library’s website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized site at myLOC.gov.