It enhances the lives of not just the educators who are going on these trips, but in turn, their students as they take what they’ve learned back to the classroom,” he said. “The hope is that those students will then use what they learn in the classroom from their teachers to enhance the lives of those that they interact with. It’s just a continuation of what we call the virtuous cycle of giving back.

It’s going to help history come more alive for my students,” he said. “One, it’ll have some credibility. ‘Oh, Mr. Bohne was there. This thing actually did happen.’ It will also lend to the storytelling of history, which I think is so important for all age groups, but especially for fifth graders. They need to be invested in the story of history to get excited about it. As I’ve been able to go to these places and see where these people walked and lived and I have pictures of myself in those places, then that story becomes more real for them. And as I’m able to visualize it and recreate that environment for them, then they can picture it themselves and hopefully grow to love history and see the importance of it.

Teaching the first half of U.S. history, we are on the opposite side of the country from where all that happened,” she said. “It’s not like I can just take my kids to a park and say, ‘Hey, this is where the first battle of the Revolutionary War happened.’ That’s just not possible, but for me to be able to go out and have a full week of just one-on-one experiences with primary sources in the exact place where things went down was really eye-opening and awe-inspiring.

The Driven2Teach Founding Principles trip was an experience of a lifetime. It was an invaluable experience to learn more about our Founding Fathers and their vision for the United States. I am looking forward to implementing what I have learned in my classroom. I am from Switzerland and so enjoyed learning more about the Founding Fathers. I have a better knowledge and appreciation for that time in history.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn about our Founding Fathers and our history. I loved being in the places I teach my students about.

This trip was the most epic adventure that will not only make us better educators, it renewed our hope. It renewed our hope that we can make a difference, that history can be fun, that we live in the greatest country in the world and that as tired as we are… we will make the time to bring the experiences we had here with two of the best professors, to change our classrooms. That we will re-endeavor to make our classrooms echo what we learned here and never stop striving to make a difference for our young students! Thank you is just not enough for what you gave us!

I’m grateful for the opportunity of this learning adventure. I’ve already started planning to implement the lessons I’ve learned from the Civil War to Civil Rights. What a great opportunity to learn from our experts Haydn Call, Jay Buckley, and Libby Robertson. I was impressed with the quality of teachers we have teaching history in Utah. We need more teachers as passionate as this group.  As a widowed mother, on a teacher’s salary, I wouldn’t have been able to afford this learning adventure on my own. My children are grown now, but because I was on my own for so long, I don’t have much in the bank for things like this.  I’m grateful for the vision of Mr. Miller to put this together. I’m grateful to Mrs. Miller for keeping Driven 2 Teach each year. I’ve been blessed beyond measure being a participant. My students benefit because my passion for history is so strong.

I was able to attend the seminar Civil War to Civil Rights and tour the south starting in Charleston, SC and ending in Birmingham, AL. I feel incredibly blessed to have the chance to visit sites where the actual events took place. It’s such a gift to be able to teach my students and pull from the personal experience of visiting those places. One such experience that stood out to me was when we visited Magnolia Plantation in Charleston. The gardens were so beautiful, but I couldn’t help but think of the hundreds/thousands of enslaved people who built it. On our tour they told us that after the enslaved were freed, they had to stop growing rice because nobody would willingly work those rice fields in the swamps. Nobody would take those kinds of risks voluntarily. Think about that. Those enslaved people had no choice and as I drove the roads on the plantation and saw the alligators in the swamps, and the bugs and all kinds of creatures, my heart ached for those people who didn’t have a choice. What a gift it was to visit this place and see for myself what the conditions were. Thank you so much for that opportunity and I’ll use everything I learned to help educate the kids I teach.

Early US History came to life and multiple perspectives opened my eyes more than any textbook ever has. This once in a lifetime opportunity and content will be shared with all of my future students!

My Driven 2 Teach experience was instructive, insightful, and so very useful to myself and my students.