Denver — Michelle Pearson, a history teacher in Colorado, had a star-studded morning at the Democratic National Convention here yesterday, thanks to her involvement in a university-run, hands-on history program.
She first attended a breakfast with Thomas A. Daschle, where the former majority leader of the U.S. Senate spoke about leadership. Then she heard from Michelle Obama at a meeting of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
For teachers and professors attending the Democratic National Convention, the four-day event is an opportunity not only to participate in an American institution, but to educate their students in the process.
Ms. Pearson is one of five Colorado-area teachers acting as correspondents for their students during the convention through a program called “When History Happens,” created by the Metropolitan State College of Denver. Reporting from convention events and the floor of the Pepsi Center, they are stimulating discussion about politics and governance in their classrooms back home.
Several professors attending the convention are leading groups of students through the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, which brought 370 college students and faculty members to Denver for two weeks of classes, lectures, and convention “field work.”
Sometimes the lessons aren’t what you might expect. Raymond Levy, a 29-year-old student at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, said working with the Florida delegation has taught him how to deal with powerful people’s frustrations. The first day, for example, the Florida Democrats ran out of gift bags, and delegates went crazy.
“They were full of things that nobody would normally want. We’re talking pink-flamingo sunglasses,” he said. “But this day, they were like gold. They were Versace.”
Because everyone else was running around, it fell to Mr. Levy to appease the angry crowd.
For more stories of students and professors using the convention as a teaching tool, check out our story today.
