From the President
Steve Pierce, NCCSS President
The 2009 – 2010 school year will soon be upon us, and with that come the usual challenges of planning, preparing, teaching evaluating and the myriad other tasks that educators perform day in and day out. Added to those challenges this year is the uncertainty of funding for education and the reality of having to do more with less. The NCCSS is committed to supporting social studies teachers and ensuring that the social studies retains its place in the curriculum.
This marks my first year as president of the Council. Let me begin by expressing my thanks to Edye Morris-Bryant for her leadership as president of the NCCSS over the past two years. The Council remains a viable organization committed to advocating for the vital role the social studies plays in North Carolina classrooms. Edye now assumes the role of Past-President of the Council.
I also welcome Becky Griffith as our newly elected President-Elect. Becky will be responsible for chairing the Program Committee of the state social studies conference. I look forward to working with Becky over the next two years. There are five new faces on the Board of Directors. Recently elected to a 3-year term are Paul Fitchett, Melissa Hockaday, and Chris Monte. Filling unexpired terms on the Board are Janet McElfresh and John Spicer.
The 39th Annual Social Studies Conference was a success due to the hard work of the Officers and Board of Directors who took on many varied duties and tasks. There were nearly 140 sessions presented over the conference. See the Conference Review article in this issue for more details about the conference. Prior to this year’s conference the Council was concerned that the economy and cutbacks in staff development money would limit attendance at the conference. While our numbers were down somewhat, over 800 attended. Thank you for supporting the conference through your attendance and participation.
The Council is in the process of building a new website that will better serve our membership. If you were at the conference, you had an opportunity to meet the web designer and give input on what you would like to see on the website. Over the next several months we will be adding resources and useful links on the website that will provide our members and the education community at large with up-to-date information about the Council and activities to enhance social studies instruction.
The North Carolina Council for the Social Studies exists for its members. It is ultimately your organization. We remain committed to being a voice for social studies teachers in making the case for all the disciplines of the social studies in North Carolina. I see our role as actively advocating for the social studies. We face challenges that several other disciplines do not in that social studies is not directly tested in any grades prior to high school. Yet in high school social studies accounts for two of the EOC content tests. On one level social studies is often marginalized with no testing, then it becomes a player in high stakes testing at the secondary level. As an organization we must advocate for social studies at all levels so that our elementary and middle school students get the content and skills they need to be successful in high school courses, and more importantly, become active, informed, and knowledgeable citizens.
Let me know how the Council can better fulfill it mission. Email me with your ideas on how we can improve our website, how we can better advocate for the social studies, and advice on what issues we should take a position. My email address is stevepierce@charter.net .
Enjoy the spring season and good luck with the remainder of the school year.
