Winston teachers study Lewis and Clark

Carol Caudle and Amanda Bridgeman from the Winston R-VI School District were two of 24 participants from Northwest Missouri educational institutions attending a week-long program in the Helena, Montana area.

Eight teams of three educators were selected from Missouri Western State College, North Central Missouri College, and Northwest Missouri State University. Team members consisted of a student teacher, cooperating classroom teacher, and a college/university-level instructor.

Participants studied the Lewis and Clark Expedition prior to and during the workshop and are writing curriculum to put into their classrooms during the Fall 2000 semester. The teams stayed at the Montana Science Institute, directed by Gil and Marilyn Alexander. The Institute, located ease of Helena on Canyon Ferry Lake, was amidst the wildfires of Montana, allowing participants not only to learn more about Lewis and Clark but of fire-fighting strategies and the destruction caused by this natural disaster.

Helicopters scooped water from the lake right next to the cabins where the participants stayed and used the water to control the fires.

The Montana Science Institute is a hands-on learning environment where Native American sign language, flint knapping, rope making, and pictograph painting were demonstrated. Tours of the headwaters of the Missouri River at Three Forks, the Gates of the Mountains, Great Falls, and the Montana Historical Society were conducted to gain first-hand experience with the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Team 2 of the Goals 2000 initiative sponsored the program. Upon their return from Montana, the participants will serve as leaders in a teaching about Lewis and Clark and write curriculum that can be shared among educators.

The bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Discovery will begin in 2003. These Northwest Missouri educators are ready to lead the commemoration.