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 The 44-page guide, released today, provides a variety
of learning activities connecting K-12 math, science, art, music,
reading and writing lessons with the rich history surrounding some
of the movers and shakers who occupied the Governor’s Mansion dating
back to the Civil War and through the early 1900s.
“We want everyone in Illinois to visit the People’s House, a site of
history, culture and civic pride,” First Lady Diana Rauner wrote in
a prefacing letter for the guide. “It offers a wonderful journey
through our past, and its lessons need not be confined to a place.
“This guide is a means of extending the Illinois Governor’s
Mansion’s education mission to inspire students and teachers to look
deeper into our history as a way to inform the future and define
their roles in it,” added Mrs. Rauner, who also is the chairwoman of
the nonprofit mansion association, which undertook extensive
renovations of the 1850s-era structure in recent years.
Learning activities in the Illinois State Board of
Education-endorsed guide correspond with exhibits on display at the
mansion, located at 410 E. Jackson St. in Springfield.
Six months in the making, “Born, Built, Grown: Illinois Learning
Resources from the Governor’s Mansion” is ideal for use before or
after student group tours of the mansion. The guide includes
tour-scheduling information, and can easily be used in conjunction
with virtual tours of the mansion as well. A link to virtual tours
will be available soon at illinois mansion.org.
Gov. Bruce Rauner hailed the guide as a terrific compilation of ways
for teachers to bring Illinois history to life in their classrooms.
“The activities and lesson suggestions in this guide are an
excellent way for teachers to introduce or reinforce the importance
of civic duty and public service in our lives, as they highlight
examples of those who helped build the backbone of our state,”
Rauner said. “I congratulate everyone who worked on this project,
and encourage its use throughout our schools.”
Curriculum guide subjects include Govs. Richard
Yates, Richard Oglesby, John Altgeld, Henry Horner and Adlai
Stevenson II as well as the state’s first female senator, Florence
Fifer Bohrer.
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The latter spent some childhood years in the mansion while her
father, Joseph Fifer, served as governor from 1889 to 1893. Also addressed in
the guide are pivotal events of the times — everything from the World’s
Columbian Exposition to the Haymarket Riot, the Great Depression and the women’s
suffrage movement.
The guide also includes historic maps of Springfield, an
extensive civics books list divided by grade and subject, and myriad links to
online learning resources as well as references to correlating Illinois State
Learning Standards.
Along with the Illinois Governor’s Mansion Association, project collaborators
included the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois State
University Center for Educational Initiatives, the Curator of the Governor’s
Mansion and the ISBE.
State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith called on teachers to avail
themselves of the new resource.
“Recognizing that students learn in many different ways, the Governor’s
Mansion’s Learning Resources guide invites students to build their math,
science, writing and art skills while discovering the rich history of our
state,” he said. “I encourage teachers to explore how these resources can
support students to think critically about the events that shape our collective
past in order to transform our promising future.”
Governor’s Mansion Curator Justin Blandford said he is excited to see the guide
come to fruition and looks forward to the interest he believes it will spark and
renew in the mansion’s considerable public legacy.
“I’m particularly grateful to ISBE staff and the content specialists at the
Center for Educational Initiatives at Illinois State University for helping to
bring this guide from concept to reality,” Blandford said. “It contains so many
ways to engage students in learning about the important people, places and
events that shaped our state. Students whose teachers put this to use will
undoubtedly benefit.”
The full guide can be accessed online
here.
[Office of the Governor Bruce Rauner]
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