About the Grant
About the Process
In the Spring of 2020, we met remotely with teachers and Jane Addams experts to familiarize ourselves with Jane Addams's role in the history curriculum, the Jane Addams Digital Edition, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, and the kinds of resources that teachers were likely to use in their classroom.
What we learned was that teachers have an awful lot of material to cover in AP History courses and that teachers do not have a lot of time for subjects like Jane Addams. Situated in two AP units -- on the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era -- Addams can serve as a bridge that helps students understand the changes in the two historical eras.
We also learned that teachers prefer materials that they can incorporate directly into their lesson planning. Our teachers preferred using Google Slides and told us that they wanted resources that were ready to go, and could be dropped into their classroom with ease. They also wanted to be able to edit materials in case they had limited time.
Teachers liked the idea of using primary sources and directed questions that students could answer. We did a virtual Hull-House tour that helped everyone to better understand the role of Hull-House in Chicago's immigrant communities and its role as a Museum today.
We then met to discuss which topics were of most interest to teachers and their students. We compiled a list and developed three guides, on child labor, immigration, and Jane Addams and World War I. We hope to add more guides from the list by working with new teachers and students. If you are interested in participating in this work, please contact Cathy Moran Hajo (chajo@ramapo.edu).
Our student workers then began drafting the guides. Allie Cheff developed a first draft of the immigration resource, which served as a model for those that followed. Juan Navarro worked with several of our teachers to develop modules on World War I and Child Labor.
About the Jane Addams Experts
Cathy Moran Hajo is the editor and director of the Jane Addams Papers Project.
Stacy Lynn is the Associate Editor of the Jane Addams Papers Project
Michael Ramirez was the Education Manager of the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.
Victoria Sciancalepore is the Assistant Editor of the Jane Addams Papers Project.
About the Teachers
Staci Anson is currently teaching AP and on-level US History at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, NJ (Bergen County). She also works as an AP reader for the College Board and part time as a history and social studies education professor for the University of Phoenix. Staci began teaching in 1997 and has since taught courses in US History, World History, Anthropology, American Government, Civics and Law & Human Rights.
Yvonne Beatrice is a retired Social Studies teacher of 25 years, having spent 17 of those years at Mahwah High School, Mahwah, N.J. (Bergen County) Yvonne taught Honors U.S. I, Honors Case Studies in Constitutional Law and A.P. Government and Politics. She was the recipient of the Gilder Lehrman Preserve America Teacher of the Year Award in 2010, and the New Jersey Daughters of the American Revolution Teacher of the Year Award in 2012.
Katherine DeVillasanta has been an educator for the last fourteen years at Clearview Regional High School, in Mullica Hill, NJ (Gloucester County). Graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelors of History and Education, with a minor in Women's Studies, Katherine has her certificate of Advanced Standing for grades K-12. Katherine has taught many subjects and levels ranging from general level US history to AP World History. She is also a proud Executive Board Member of the New Jersey Council for Social Studies and devoted wife and mother of three children.
Joseph Dobis is a Teacher of Social Studies and Teacher of Students with Disabilities at Franklin High School in Somerset, NJ (Somerset County). After being born and raised in Saginaw, Mi., Joseph attended Georgian Court University for his undergraduate degree graduating in 2009. In addition, Joseph earned his graduate degree in History, Specializing in U.S. History from Monmouth University in 2012. Lastly, Joseph earned his NJ School Supervisor Certificate in 2019 from Georgian Court University. Presently residing in Bayville, NJ. with his partner, Joseph is currently in his 12th year teaching.
Joseph Dwyer, District Social Studies Coordinator, Nutley Public Schools (Essex County) He taught social studies, including AP US History, at Nutley High School for 12 years before becoming an administrator. In addition to working in Nutley, Joe serves as a part-time lecturer in the History Department at Rutgers University - Newark.
Angela Funk, AP History teacher, Indian Hills High School (Bergen County) has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Pace University and a Bachelor of Social Studies and History from Caldwell College. She has a Masters of Science in Curriculum and Instruction. She teaches social studies and business at Indian Hills High School in Wyckoff, NJ, and has taught College Placement and AP United States History courses. She advises the DECA Club, the Model UN Club, and participates in the Future Ready Schools task force and the Technology Committee. She participated in a grant-funded Teaching American History project focused on women’s history, Holocaust and genocide studies, civil rights and New Jersey History, and one on the Citizen and the Constitution.
Keri A. Giannotti is a Social Studies teacher at Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, New Jersey (Essex County). During her tenure there she has taught United States History, AP United States Government and Politics, a Holocaust and Genocide elective and Political Science Elective. In addition to teaching she is the Museum Educator at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation in Holmdel, New Jersey. The NJVVMF, is the first and only Museum in the country devoted to the Vietnam Era. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in History and one in Political Science along with a Masters in Political Science from Kean University. She was named a James Madison Fellow in 2019 and is matriculated in Pace University's Masters in American History. She sits on the Board of Trustees for the Middle States Council for Social Studies and the Teacher’s Advisory Council for the Bill of Rights Institute. She is also an AP Reader for the United States Government and Politics exam and has reviewed textbooks for SocialStudies.com including the NJ Fourth Grade program “Young Citizens” which explores NJ History for an elementary audience. She volunteers with New Jersey Special Olympics and NJ National History as a judge. She is an active member in the Junior League of Montclair Newark and is the Vice Chair for the Junior League State Public Affairs Committee.
Scott Kercher, social science coordinator, Sparta High School (Sussex County) Scott Kercher has over twenty years of professional experience in New Jersey Public Schools. During this time, he has served in several instructional and leadership capacities. These roles include: a teacher of Honors/Humanities programs, an ESL and ICS instructor, a Mentor-Teacher, a Social Studies Department Supervisor, a Community Outreach Coordinator and a Professional Development Provider. He holds a B.A. in History/Secondary Education from The College of New Jersey and an M. A. in Educational Leadership from Rider University. In 2008, he became the 7-12 Social Studies Supervisor in the Livingston Public Schools where he helped to create a Humanities program and integrated cultural programing in conjunction with the World Language Department. He is an active member of the New Jersey Social Studies Supervisors Association and has contributed to service learning and voting rights programs. Recently, he contributed to the NJSLS Social Studies Standards revision. He also regularly contributes lessons to Newsela and Bridgeway Learning Academy as well as serve as a test scorer/rater for a variety of Educational Testing Service programs.
Faye Johnson is a Social Studies teacher at Brimm Medical Arts High School in Camden, New Jersey (Camden County). During her tenure there she has taught, AP United States History, United States History, Global Studies and a Civics elective. She holds a Bachelors in Arts in History from Rutgers University along with a Masters in Secondary Education from Saint Joseph’s University. In addition to teaching, she is a curriculum liaison for the Camden City School District, a member of the iCivics Educator Network and has presented at the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies conference. She was a teacher fellow in 2017 for the James Madison Legacy Project and her students recently participated in the Gilder Lehrman Hamilton Education Program, where they performed an original piece on Broadway. She is also an AP Reader for the United States History exam. Faye lives with her husband and two sons in South Jersey.
Allison McCabe Matto has been a teacher at Red Bank Regional High School since 2003. She has taught American History courses ranging from college prep to the Advanced Placement level as well as humanities electives such as the American Legal System, Criminal Law and Psychology. Mrs. Matto holds a B.A. in Political Science and a M.A. in Communications from Monmouth University.
Louis Moore is Superintendent for the Red Bank Regional High School District (Monmouth County). Previously he has served as a high school principal, assistant principal, and humanities supervisor. He also co-directed a Teaching American History Grant that served over 20 New Jersey School districts. He holds a Ph.D in history from Rutgers and taught history at Ridgewood High School.
Frank Romano Jr. is a Vice Principal in the Perth Amboy Public Schools (Middlesex County), supervising Social Studies Grades 5-12 and co-teaching courses as a part of his role. Prior to his appointment in Perth Amboy, Frank served the Jersey City Public Schools for seven years as a Soc. Studies teacher, six of which he was also the Department Coordinator for Social Studies and World Language at Lincoln High School. He's attended three National Endowment of the Humanities "Landmark Seminars"--in Atlanta, GA; Los Angeles, CA; and Holyoke, MA. He also had the opportunity to pursue learning in Edinburgh, Scotland through the Gilder Lehrman Summer Seminars, and is in the final lap of completing his MA in American History through the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History partnership with Pace University. Frank lives with his wife and toddler son in Roselle Park, NJ.
Robert Schulte, AP History teacher, Neptune High School (Ocean County) teaches at Neptune High School. He earned his Undergraduate Degree from Rider University in 2004 and is wrapping up my Masters in American History from Pace University as one of NJ's 2019 James Madison Fellows. He currently teaches United States History as well as an elective on Pop Culture in United States History. He has been a seasonal National Park Ranger at Independence National Historical Park since 2010. He was awarded the 2019 New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance Teacher of the Year award in 2018, and the New Jersey Council for Social Studies Fred Cotterell Educator of the Year Award in 2020 and was a finalist for the Princeton University Prize for Distinguished Secondary School Teaching (to be determined Spring of 2021). He served on the Teacher Advisory Board for Harvard Universities Declaration Resource Project, and currently serve as a consulting teacher with the Society of the Cincinnati's American Revolution Institute where he has lessons published online, as well as serving on the Awards and Scholarship Committee of the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance. In 2019 he published Federalism in New Jersey: The Response to Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. He also volunteers as the Chapter Counselor for the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter at Rider University and was named the regional Volunteer of the Year in 2019. In his spare time, he runs marathons, participates in Revolutionary War Re-enactments, raises chickens, and spends time with his children.
Patricia Yale, AP History teacher, Hillsborough High School (Somerset County) originally from central NJ and grew up in Flemington. She is a 1985 graduate of Kutztown University with a BS in Secondary education- Social Studies. After teaching one year in a small private Catholic School in Bound Brook, NJ from 1985-1986, she began my high school teaching career at Mount St. Mary Academy in Plainfield, NJ where she taught US History 1 from 1986-1992. She moved to the state of Georgia in 1992 and taught at Alexander HS, a large public high school about 30 miles west of Atlanta until 2012. She began teaching APUSH in the fall of 1999. She earned a MA in History in 2004 from the State University of West Georgia with a concentration in Southern History and Women’s suffrage history. She became a Reader for the College Board, scoring the national AP United States History exam in 2009 and have been a table leader twice. She is teaching AP US History at Hillsborough HS since the fall of 2012. In addition to teaching APUSH, she is the Senior Outreach Program Coordinator where she supervises as many as 35 seniors who have professional internships throughout the Hillsborough community including many with Hillsborough Township. She has presented twice at the NJ Council for the Social Studies annual conference and have twice attended the Princeton University “Teachers as Scholars Program.” She has taken two student groups on a World War II Tour throughout Europe with EF Tours. She enjoys visiting historical sites, traveling, camping and hiking, scrapbooking and quilting and has 2 dogs and 2 cats.
About the Ramapo College Students
Allie Cheff and Juan Navarro are Ramapo College undergraduates in teacher education who worked with our teachers and experts to help build these resources.