Americans Who Tell the Truth Workshop Series

The Americans Who Tell the Truth (AWTT) organization, which is built around the series of portraits by Maine artist, Robert Shetterly (pictured), will offer its third professional development workshop for Maine teachers on March 14, 2013 at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston Auburn College.

The workshop, titled “Inspiring Citizenship and Student Performance” will be sponsored by USM LAC’s Arts and Humanities program and is free and open to all area High School and Middle School teachers interested in spending an afternoon learning how to connect students with AWTT´s meaningful materials that engage students and address standards. The event will begin at 3:30 pm and end at 7:00 pm. Refreshments will be provided. Contact hours are available and all attendees will receive a certificate of participation.

The workshop -- and a gallery talk for USM LAC students earlier in the day -- will be run by AWTT artist Robert Shetterly and Connie Carter, the Executive Director of Operation Breaking Stereotypes. Other presenters will include Karen MacDonald, a language arts teacher from the King Middle School in Portland, Maine who for years has been using the AWTT portraits in her classrooms, and Natasha Mayers, the Maine artist and educator whose portrait is included in the AWTT series.

The AWTT portraits of “Models of Courageous Citizenship” have been used in classrooms around the country to spark discussion and debate, help students make connections between the classroom and their lives, and to build bridges between students and their communities. A longitudinal study of the impact of the AWTT materials in the Louisville public schools, found that the materials were linked to improvements in classroom participation, retention, performance and attendance.

Exhibits of the AWTT portraits have been hosted in colleges, high schools, museums, community centers, libraries and churches in 26 states and Washington, D.C. AWTT has partnerships with a number of regional organizations, including the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky where the two organizations work together make  the “Models of Courageous Citizenship” available to area teachers and students.

This workshop is supported by a generous gift from the Maine Community Foundation´s, donor supported, Broad Reach Fund, which for two years has funded AWTT´s efforts to bring its programs to a broader public of engaged citizens, progressive educators, and students interested in playing more active roles in direction and future their communities.

Says Deborah Felder of the Broad Reach Fund, “Americans Who Tell the Truth are more than portraits of heroes and heroines - well-known and lesser-known - they are a timeline of America's quest for social justice. It's history meant to inspire children and remind adults that we all have a part to play in changing the world for the better. The Broad Reach Fund has been pleased to support AWTT's ability to reach more audiences.”

• Register for the workshop online

For more information about AWTT, please contact Robert Shetterly:
Tel: 207 326 8459
robert@americanswhotellthetruth.org

Americans Who Tell the Truth is dedicated to the belief that a profound sense of citizenship is the only safeguard of democracy and the best defense of our social, economic, and environmental rights. Through portraits and stories of exemplary American citizens, both historical and contemporary, AWTT teaches the courage to act for the common good. The original portraits and accompanying resources promote our country’s ideals, illuminate the necessary work of the present, and inspire hope in the future.

The Professional Development workshop is sponsored by the Arts and Humanities program of USM's Lewiston-Auburn College. Arts and Humanities students learn critical and creative approaches to apply what they have learned to their personal, professional and civic lives.