BALTIMORE — The United States Mint is bringing its educational initiatives to the National Council for the Social Studies 84th Annual Conference in Baltimore, and among the many online programs offered will be a virtual time machine. Those who log on to United States Mint computers at the conference may travel through history to solve coin mysteries in the Nation’s colonial, revolutionary and westward expansion eras.
Classroom teachers, Social Studies supervisors and curriculum specialists will attend the conference, the Nation’s largest such meeting devoted to Social Studies education. From Friday, November 19th through Sunday, November 21st the United States Mint will welcome conference guests to its colorful booth, highlighting the award–winning United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change™ website, at http://www.usmint.gov/kids, where visitors can experience the new and improved Time Machine, one of the site’s most popular features. “H.I.P.” stands for History in Your Pocket. Educators will also learn how they may download free K–12 lesson plans and materials, featuring the United States 50 State Quarters Program and the Westward Journey Nickel Series™. Teachers Guides to the United States Mint website will be handed out.
Educators will have the opportunity to join the United States Mint Teachers Network. More than 3,000 teachers across the country are notified regularly via e–mail when new lesson plans are added. The teachers also receive the “Making Cents” quarterly newsletter and detailed overviews on H.I.P. Pocket Change projects. Educators who sign up for the Teachers Network will have the opportunity to win a basket containing United States Mint educational resources and other goodies. Peter the Mint Eagle, the United States Mint mascot, will be on hand to greet visitors at the booth on Friday.
“When children hold a new coin from the Westward Journey Nickel Series or the 50 State Quarters Program, it’s a small piece of history, art and culture in their hands,” said United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore. “By taking students back in time or using United States Mint lesson plans, teachers are finding innovative ways to make social studies come alive.”
Created by Congress in 1792, the United States Mint is the manufacturer of legal tender coinage for the United States. The United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program is the most popular coin program in U.S. history. The United States Mint also produces commemorative coins and Congressional medals honoring those persons whose superior deeds and achievements have enriched our history, or the world.