MKA's Prince participates in Federal Trials and Great Debates Summer Institute

Congratulations to MKA Upper School History teacher Andrew Prince, who was one of 21 teachers from across the nation selected to participate in the Ninth Annual Federal Trials and Great Debates in United States History Summer Institute for Teachers in Washington, D.C.

Co-sponsored by the American Bar Association and the Federal Judicial Center, the Institute is designed to enhance the knowledge and understanding of teachers of U.S. history, government, civics and law.

Prince had the opportunity to work with leading historians, federal judges and curriculum consultants on an intensive exploration of several federal trials through curriculum developed by the FJC and the ABA Division for Public Education. He and his fellow teachers studied the essential legal questions in various cases (including the Sedition Trials of the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, the Prohibition-era warrantless wiretapping case of Olmstead v. United States and the Vietnam-era Pentagon PapersCase) and developed strategies to incorporate judicial history into their school's history and government curricula.

"This institute provides teachers with an extraordinary opportunity to gain insight and access to the federal judiciary through these important historical cases," said Bruce Ragsdale, director of the Federal Judicial History Office at the FJC.

Mabel C. McKinney-Browning, director of the ABA Division for Public Education, said, "Teachers leave the institute with an informed view of the judiciary, an enriched view of its rich and vibrant history and a renewed sense of the importance of the courts as a co-equal branch of our government."

One of the institute's highlights was a visit to the U.S. Supreme Court, where teachers witnessed the justices release three decisions and met with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The teachers also attended a federal court trial, where they participated in a question-and-answer session with a U.S. District Court judge.