The Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin has created curriculum guides to accompany the “State of Tomorrow” PBS television series that will soon be distributed to public middle schools and high schools across Texas.
In addition to DVD box sets of the program, schools will receive the curriculum guides so the series may be incorporated into lesson plans at secondary schools in each of the state’s 1,040-plus public school districts. The University of Texas System, producer of “State of Tomorrow,” has announced a $75,000 grant from the Dallas-based Meadows Foundation to fund distribution of the series.
Distribution of the “State of Tomorrow” DVD box set and lesson plans will be undertaken through a partnership with the Texas Library Association and some 3,200 librarians who work in the state’s middle and high schools.
“State of Tomorrow” is a 13-part public television series that aired on the state’s public television stations. It focuses on the most significant research being carried out by the state’s top universities. The distribution of the series to the public middle and high schools of Texas provided an opportunity for the Center for American History to work with the UT System to encourage young people to become tomorrow’s leaders, professors, researchers and scientists.
“With the exceptional resources available at UT institutions, we knew we wouldn’t have to look far to find the creativity and expertise we needed for development of the ‘State of Tomorrow’ curriculum,” said Randa Safady, The University of Texas System vice chancellor for external relations. “We’re very grateful to UT Austin’s Center for American History for its role in this important educational outreach program. With generous support from The Meadows Foundation to launch this project, we’re helping students understand the critical role public higher education plays in the future of our state and nation.”
“The Center for American History enthusiastically embraced a major role in this unprecedented partnership among the state’s institutions of higher education, Alpheus Media and public television,” said Don Carleton, executive director of the Center. “Assistant Director for Education Cynthia DuBois has written outstanding lesson plans that encourage school students to pursue a university education in such fields as marine science, nursing, medicine and economics, and thus become our future leaders in resolving the critical problems we face in our state.”
“When we approached Dr. Carleton and Dr. DuBois, we found that they shared our vision of igniting a spark in students to key in on college,” said Cile Spelce Elley, director of the Chancellor’s Council programs and communications. “Together with them, we have created a well designed and highly useful curriculum that we believe will be a great asset to teachers.”
