September 23 2016 Meeting

National Teacher Institute participants toured the 1862 Seven Days Battlefield as part of their intensive three-day program sponsored by the Civil War Trust.

Above, our speaker, Sharon Grubbs (in the dark green shirt), stands in front of the tour guide.

“Making the Civil War Relevant to Students in Today's Changing Society"

Speaker: Sharon Grubbs, Winner of the Civil War Study Group's $1,000 Scholarship to the Civil War Trust's National Teacher Institute

Lake of the Woods Clubhouse, lower level

205 Lakeview Pkwy, Locust Grove, VA 22508

Friday, September 23, 2016, 10:30 a.m.

The Civil War officially ended 150 years ago on August 20, 1866. Can modern-day students learn anything relevant from that brutal four years, its causes and its results that they can apply to their lives?

The answer may be presented to the Civil War Study Group (CWSG) at its meeting on Friday, September 23, when it will hear a report on the Civil War Trust’s annual National Teacher Institute from Sharon Grubbs, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Locust Grove Middle School. Ms. Grubbs attended the institute thanks to a full scholarship she received from the CWSG.

The meeting begins at 10:30 AM in the lower level of the LOW Clubhouse. It is free and open to anyone with an interest in Civil War history.

The National Teacher Institute provided three days of intensive workshops, instructional battlefield and museum tours, and informative guest lectures. The program is designed to provide K-12 educators with tools they need to teach the Civil War in creative and engaging ways for their students.

More than 200 teachers from across the country attended the Institute, which was held in Richmond in July. Participants learned first-hand touring the battlefields of Petersburg and the Seven Days Battles on the Virginia peninsula.

One of the highlights was a lecture by James “Bud” Robertson, a noted author and scholar on the Civil War and Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech. Dr. Robertson spoke on the history of Confederate iconography and whether the Civil War still matters in today’s changing society.

In keeping with the Civil War Study Group’s education mission, the organization provides a scholarship annually to a teacher to attend the Institute in order to gain new ideas to make the classroom presentation of the Civil War history more alive and meaningful to his or her students.

Ms. Grubbs has been with the Orange County School System since 2000. She is a sixth-grade social studies teacher who includes the American Civil War as a main component of her curriculum each year. She and her husband have a daughter in the 11th grade at Orange County High School.

A native of Greensboro, N.C., she holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Collegiate Professional License from the Virginia Department of Education.

In 2013, Sharon was selected to participate in the Residential Professional Development Program at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. For the past two years, she has participated in a “Mountains to the Bay” grant program, bringing history and science together in the classroom.

This summer, Sharon won a $2,500 grant from the Civil War Trust for a lesson plan, “The Demise of Blessed Assurance,” that allowed students to explore the rise and fall of General Robert E. Lee’s confidence before the Battle of Chancellorsville, during the battle, and after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Everyone with an interest in Civil War history or historic battlefields preservation is invited to attend. For visitor admittance to LOW, inform Security at the main gate that you are attending the Civil War Study Group. Proceed straight ahead, up the divided parkway. General parking is on the right and the clubhouse is on the left at the top of the hill. Handicap parking is in front and on the right side of the building. Handicap entrance is on the right. (LOW Clubhouse: 205 Lakeview Pkwy, Locust Grove, VA 22508) For more information, contact Craig Rains, CWSG president, (540) 972-2844.