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Monday, 16 January 2012 |
Dear Friends of the Joe Foss Institute,
When John Adams wrote, in 1787, that "children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom," he echoed the thoughts of other Founding Fathers, who clearly saw rigorous civic education as a necessary investment in our nation's future freedom.
Today however, we are facing what former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has called a "crisis in civic education."
Our schools, driven by an increasingly strong emphasis and funding for proficiency in the hard sciences (science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM) and standardized testing are producing students who are learning less and less about how our freedoms were earned and why they matter.
The principles that provide the foundation for our entire system government —how our government works and how our constitution was developed—are no longer being taught in school or learned at home. When this happens, children do not gain an appreciation for the uniqueness of our freedom. The result? That which these students do not appreciate, they will not protect.
At the Joe Foss Institute, we are stepping into that educational gap and investing in these future leaders, in three ways. First, through our Veterans Inspiring Patriotism program, we send veterans into schools across America to interact with students, to share their stories, and to teach about our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the students’ responsibility to be good citizens. Our second major emphasis is our eCurriculum program, an effort to partner with schools and educators by providing tools and resources for use in their classrooms. The third major area of emphasis is our college scholarship program, an initiative we will be dramatically expanding in the next couple of years.
As we look ahead into 2012, we look forward to continuing to build upon the partnerships that are taking shape with the Boys Scouts of America, the Bill of Rights Institute, Learning for Life and others. We have taken significant steps to move our eCurriculum program forward, created our first-ever video scholarship contest, and are exploring ways we might partner with the Horatio Alger Association on our scholarship program. We are also excited to announce that we have recently hired new two very talented new members of our team to help accelerate our mission and broaden our reach.
Whether you have supported our work for years, are just learning about JFI, or are somewhere in between, we are grateful for your interest in all that we do. These are exciting times at JFI and our hope, as we move into the new year, is that you will take a next step with us, whatever that next step may be.
Best regards,
Lucian Spataro, Jr. Ph.D.
President & CEO
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