Alva Review-Courier -

Fifth grade teacher Annalisa Roggow, Alva, returned to her classroom this fall at Lincoln Elementary School with a renewed passion for early American history and a variety of new interactive lessons plans after attending the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute in the restored capital city of 18th-century Virginia.

While in Colonial Williamsburg – the world’s largest living history museum – Roggow met character interpreters portraying 18th-century people and was immersed in early American history through hands-on activities and reenactments of historical events. This marks the 31st year that Oklahoma teachers have attended the institute through a fellowship program coordinated by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, a statewide nonprofit that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in public schools.

Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute master teacher Vanna Owens of Claremore, Oklahoma, served as facilitator for the fifth-grade Oklahoma delegation. She met daily with teachers to discuss interactive teaching techniques and help develop creative lesson plans based on their experiences.

“It was thrilling to see and experience an area so rich in our nation's history,” said Roggow. “I have a greater understanding and appreciation for the events and people that were instrumental in shaping the United States of America. The experience of actually seeing the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, and walking on the battlefield of Yorktown made the history of these events so much more real.

“I learned much more through this experience than a textbook can share,” Roggow added. “I hope to be able to excite my students about history through the many activities I learned that will help make history more than words on a page, but something that real people lived.”

Oklahoma ranks second in the nation, following California, in the number of teacher institute participants, with 1,135 Oklahoma graduates to date. Of that total, 946 were selected through the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence to receive donor-funded fellowships and stipends for classroom materials.

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence has coordinated Oklahoma’s participation in the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute since 1993. The program is made possible through the leadership and support of the late Oklahoma City businessman Edward C. Joullian III, who was a former board member of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and a trustee of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Joullian’s family, along with a group of loyal donors, continues to support the fellowship program, which has transformed the way many Oklahoma educators teach early American history.