JRC Nominee Wins Professional Educator Award

Tara Kelly accepts her award at the 2017 NYSCSS Convention
Tara Kelly accepts her award at the 2017 NYSCSS Convention

The New York State Council for the Social Studies presented the Outstanding Social Studies Classroom Teacher Award to Tara Kelly at their annual conference last weekend. Tara was nominated for the award by the Justice Resource Center in recognition of her “demonstrated exceptional teaching ability” in her Forest Hills classroom and with the JRC’s We the People workshops. Congratulations, Tara!

NYSCSS-NYS4A-550-wide

James Madison Legacy Project Teachers’ Summer Institute

July 8, 2016 –   Middle and High school teachers from NYC and Albany attended a five day professional development summer institute at the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse. As part of a US Dept. of Ed’s James Madison Legacy grant, teachers participated in outstanding sessions facilitated by scholars ( federal judges and law professors) based on the civic education materials, “We The People: The Citizen & The Constitution.” Teachers were assigned expert “We The People” Mentors to assist with implementation of a mock court hearing.

Federal judges and law professors presented  topics on the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.  The judges included: Honorable  Reena Raggi & Gerad E. Lynch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of N.Y , Judge Paul Oetken, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of N.Y. , Judge Joseph Bianco of the U.S. District for the Southern District of N.Y. and Magistrate Judge James Francis IV. The law Professors included: Chris Riano of Columbia University,  Jeffrey Morris of Touro Law School,  Steve Gilles & Martin Margulies of Quinnipiac Law School ,Myriam Gilles & Julie C. Suk of Cardozo Law School  , Aaron Saiger & Benjamin Zipursky of Fordham Law School  and Emily Gold Waldman of Pace Law School .  Judges  D’Agostino, Moses, Peck, Trust, Maas and Stewart presided over a mock court hearing on the final day. All of this was made possible by Chief Judge Robert Katzmann.

James Madison Legacy Summer PD Opportunity!

Tuesday, April 19, 2016 – Attention NYC High School and Middle School Social Studies Teachers! The Justice Resource Center is offering a summer Professional Development opportunity at the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse as part of the We The People James Madison Legacy Project.

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James Madison Legacy Project– Teachers in the Capitol

March 3, 2016 – The Justice Resource Center coordinated a two-day trip to Albany for teacher professional development based upon the content of “We The People: Bill of Rights and the Constitution” model program. Fifteen NYC teachers of law classes, English language learning, government, AP government, special education, participation in government, and American history toured the Capitol with a guide from the NY Historical Society, heard from Drohan Lee LLP partner and Columbia University professor, Christopher Riano, about Constitutional Law, and observed the We The People NY State rounds.

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