Abby O’Neill is continuing her grandfather John D. Rockefeller’s legacy of supporting Colonial Williamsburg, recently committing $1 million to support a new program for teachers.
O’Neill gave the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation $1 million to launch and run a new program to help New York teachers — specifically from New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island — work history and civics education into reading, writing and critical thinking instruction.
The foundation will partner with Columbia University’s Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College to run the program.
The donation will cover annual scholarships through 2019 for 20 teachers to attend the Institute in American History and Content Area Literacy — an expansion of the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute — and participate in online courses and workshops.
Teachers who participate will have a follow-up session online or in their district. Colonial Williamsburg plans to host a workshop in New York during the 2015-16 school year.
“This is an opportunity for New York teachers to work with organizations known for expertise in American history and teaching literacy not just as a process, but as a way to think and to analyze and evaluate information — the essential skills for American citizenship,” said Bill White, Colonial Williamsburg’s Royce R. and Kathryn M. Baker vice president for productions, publications and learning ventures, in a news release.
The pilot session of Institute of American History and Content Area Literacy began Sunday and runs through Friday in Williamsburg. Fourth-grade teachers are in town to pick up ideas on intertwining history and civics with reading and writing. Primary sources, artwork and historical artifacts will be used to help the teachers adopt 18th-century personas and dig into the lives of Williamsburg residents just before the Revolutionary War broke out.
“Tight budgets and an emphasis on test performance in reading and math are squeezing history and social studies out of the country’s schools,” said Colonial Williamsburg president and CEO Colin Campbell in a news release. “Understanding the story of our country’s founding and its guiding principles builds critical skills for future citizens and leaders of our country. We are committed to revitalizing the teaching of American history — in New York, and across the nation — and as part of that, we want to help these teachers integrate American history directly into their reading and writing instruction.”
O’Neill served as a Colonial Williamsburg Foundation trustee for 28 years, beginning in 1966. She was the first to receive the Churchill Bell, the foundation’s highest honor. She has donated toward the Charles R. Longsworth Endowment for Outreach and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library.
“I have been involved in education for many years, so supporting this collaboration of Colonial Williamsburg and the Teachers College program is a natural fit for me,” O’Neill said. “My goal is to support extraordinary teachers, especially those that show a commitment to teaching in New York City. This program will allow educators across multiple disciplines to discover new methods of teaching — and inspiring — their students about our country’s past.”
