This two-week summer experience for rising 7th, 8th and 9th-grade students provides an opportunity to:
Students will explore U.S. History through specific themes, driven by essential questions to guide you in your studies as you develop greater historical knowledge and understanding.
Each week, you will spend about three-four hours a day in small online classes led by top history teachers from around the country. In daily classes, you will meet to explore the theme of the week. Three days a week will include one-hour virtual tours of relevant sites. During the course of the session, you will work in smaller groups on a final collaborative project. A national leader or historian will speak on the final day.
SESSION 1 FULL – ENROLLMENT CLOSED
Week One: “Leadership and the Presidency.” We will explore themes of national expansion, national unity, and global leadership through the study of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Hyde Park.
Week Two: “Civil Rights.” We will examine inclusivity in the Constitution through the impact of WWII Japanese American Concentration Camps at Minidoka National Historic Site, the fight against segregation with the Little Rock Nine at Central High School, and the struggle for Hispanic-American workers’ rights at Cesar Chavez National Monument.
Week One: “Innovation.” As the country seeks a vaccine for Covid-19, we will study the historical examples of innovation through the search for the polio vaccine, the development of the automobile, Thomas Edison’s research and development laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, and the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site in Richmond, VA.
Week Two: “Resilience.” The United States is currently faced with unprecedented challenges. We will examine the collective American response and resiliency to past challenges through the study of the Civil War at Gettysburg, the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, Texas, and the 9/11 Museum in New York City.
Typically, all synchronous class sessions are between 12:30 pm and 5 pm EST (with a scheduled one hour break at 2:00 pm) and a guest speaker series is scheduled around 6:00 pm EST (which is not required). There is also an optional Town Hall meeting one night per week at 7:00 pm EST.
Tuition for each two-week session is $495, and space is limited. To ensure the program is accessible for all, we offer a generous scholarship program. Applying for a scholarship is easy: just check the “Scholarship” box on the Application. National History Academy is part of a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, and tuition received will defray the costs of the program.
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
Abraham Lincoln’s home in Springfield, Illinois
Cesar Chavez National Monument
Little Rock’s Central High School
Minidoka National Historic Site
9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City
Photo Credits:
Abraham Lincoln’s Home photo by Daniel Schwen via Wikimedia Commons
Cesar E. Chavez National Monument photo by Chris English via Wikimedia Commons
Menlo Park Laboratory photo by Andrew Balet via Wikimedia Commons
Menlo Park Cruicibles photo by Andrew Balet via Wikimedia Commons
Minidoka National Historic Site photo by Tamanoeconomico via Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Wellcome Polio vaccine dropped on to sugar lump for child patient Photograph circa 1980 Wellcome Foundation Published via Wikimedia Commons