Missouri Council of the Social Studies Annual Conference: Full Schedule

7:45am CST

Registration; Breakfast

Friday February 21, 2025 7:45am - 8:25am CST

This breakfast is sponsored by the University of Missouri–St. Louis in appreciation of our dedicated social studies educators who uphold and strengthen our democracy.

Speakers

Kerri Flynn

Executive Secretary, Missouri Council of the Social Studies

Before becoming the Education Director for The Genocide Education Project, Kerri Flynn was a high school social studies and English teacher in Missouri for 25 years. She taught dual credit Psychology and Sociology, Modern U.S. History, and Human Rights and Genocide, a course she developed. Flynn received the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator award... Read More →

Friday February 21, 2025 7:45am - 8:25am CST
Lobby

All

8:30am CST

Meeting the Holocaust Education Mandate

Friday February 21, 2025 8:30am - 9:20am CST

Matsun

This session will explore the new Missouri Holocaust Education Mandate which is required in public and charter schools for grades 6-12. The session will include an overview of effective teaching strategies, access to key resources such as survivor testimonies and historical materials, and time for educators to begin developing or refining their own Holocaust education plans. By the end of the workshop, attendees will be equipped to meet the mandate’s objectives with confidence.

Speakers

Helen Turner

Friday February 21, 2025 8:30am - 9:20am CST
Matsun

All

9:30am CST

Conference Welcome and Keynote Speaker

Friday February 21, 2025 9:30am - 10:30am CST

Windsor

Speakers

Lynne Jackson

The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation

As the great-great grandaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott, Lynne Jackson has worked tirelessly to maintain the legacy of Dred Scott’s eleven-year fight for freedom. Ms. Jackson founded the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation which raised the funds for the Dred and Harriet Scott statue... Read More →

Friday February 21, 2025 9:30am - 10:30am CST
Windsor

All

10:40am CST

World Peace Through Geography Knowledge

Friday February 21, 2025 10:40am - 11:30am CST

Calhoun

Attendees will get access to a package of free online geography games that can help them and their students learn names and countries of the world.

Speakers

Bob Reynolds

Friday February 21, 2025 10:40am - 11:30am CST
Calhoun

All

11:30am CST

Lunch and Teacher of the Year Awards

Friday February 21, 2025 11:30am - 1:00pm CST

Windsor

The techniques shown during this presentation are directly applicable to assisting educators in complying with the State of Missouri's Holocaust education mandate. This presentation will show how the guidelines produced by the Missouri Holocaust and Education Awareness Commission can be used to inform AI models to assist educators in the classroom.

Speakers

MCSS President Brian Keller and Past President Linnet Early

Friday February 21, 2025 11:30am - 1:00pm CST
Windsor

All

1:00pm CST

“DBQ-In-A-Day”: Incorporating Document-Based Skills and Strategies within Daily Instruction

Friday February 21, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST

Rocheport

"DBQ-In-A-Day" will focus on ways to utilize bits-and-pieces of a DBQ unit in short one- or two-day lessons. The training will feature various strategies to help students with document analysis and increase writing skills through "DBQ Quick Writes." The goal is for participants to leave with a better sense of how they can utilize the DBQ resources beyond full units, worksheet packets and within their daily instruction.

Speakers

Tyler Adams

Friday February 21, 2025 1:00pm - 1:50pm CST
Rocheport

All

3:00pm CST

Keynote Speaker: Brent Trout

Friday February 21, 2025 3:00pm - 3:50pm CST

Windsor

Speakers

Brent Trout

Manager, St. Louis County Library

Brent Trout is the manager of the Emerson History & Genealogy Center at St. Louis County Library Clark Family Branch. With a background in museums, Brent previously served as the executive director of museums in Oklahoma and Florida. His interest in genealogy developed while in Oklahoma... Read More →

Friday February 21, 2025 3:00pm - 3:50pm CST
Windsor

All

4:00pm CST

Holocaust Composer Stories Screening

Friday February 21, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm CST

Windsor

Join us for a screening of the first installment of Holocaust Composer Stories, a free, digital education program from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Holocaust Composer Stories offers middle and high school social studies and music teachers a new entry point for teaching about the Holocaust. Each story in this series features a composer with a different experience of the Holocaust. Students will listen to their music, hear their stories, and deepen their own understanding of historical events.
Created in partnership with the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum.

Friday February 21, 2025 4:00pm - 5:00pm CST
Windsor

All

6:30pm CST

Trivia Night Sponsored by BRI

Friday February 21, 2025 6:30pm - 8:00pm CST

Windsor

Speakers

Derek Frieling

Scott Petri

Sponsors

Bill of Rights Institute

Friday February 21, 2025 6:30pm - 8:00pm CST
Windsor

All

8:15am CST

How Travel Develops Teachers: A Roundtable Discussion

Saturday February 22, 2025 8:15am - 8:55am CST

Windsor

In this session, Missouri teachers who have traveled the world will participate in a round table to discuss successful strategies used to be accepted into top teacher travel programs around the world! If you are looking for international travel or travel within the States, this session is for you. The professional develop on these trips is simply amazing and you will be a better educator because of it. Participants will also answer questions and help you complete an application on the SPOT!

Speakers

Rhett Oldham

Saturday February 22, 2025 8:15am - 8:55am CST
Windsor

All

9:00am CST

Inquiry Through Time: Exploring History's Untold Narratives

Saturday February 22, 2025 9:00am - 9:50am CST

Augusta

With a strong emphasis on ethnic studies classes and resources, educators often find it challenging to find materials that truly engage their students. Students are eager for lessons that bring value and impact to their lives. I invite you to join me and learn about resources that are ready to use in your classroom and have the potential to make a significant impact on your students.

Speakers

Erin Conklin

Saturday February 22, 2025 9:00am - 9:50am CST
Augusta

All

9:00am CST

Personal Stories & Spatial Reasoning Help Students Develop a Sense of Historic Time

Saturday February 22, 2025 9:00am - 9:50am CST

Calhoun

Chronology - placement of historical events - is a challenge for students whose awareness of the world may be only a decade. Understanding chronology begins by identifying events in their own lives. This can be expanded if students visualize and personalize the passage of time with these three elements: draw a timeline, the math number line's social studies counterpart, to create a graphic organizer; designate it as a visual story line; and personalize the content with the first-person experiences of individuals in the students' lives. This presentation will demonstrate the strategy and engage participants in developing their own timelines.

Speakers

Ray Wicks

Saturday February 22, 2025 9:00am - 9:50am CST
Calhoun

All

10:00am CST

The Frontiers of Content and Pedagogy: Teaching with Primary Sources

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST

Calhoun

For many teachers, primary sources serve as a new frontier. Primary sources sit at the frontier of content because they offer insights into stories of the past that might be unknown. Primary sources also sit at the frontier of pedagogy because teaching with primary sources such as documents, oral histories, cartoons, photographs, and paintings, requires innovative strategies to promote higher order thinking with these different source types. In this session, teachers will learn how to locate primary sources that uncover stories of the past while also learning engaging new strategies for teaching with them.

Speakers

Tina Ellsworth

Saturday February 22, 2025 10:00am - 10:50am CST
Calhoun

All

11:00am CST

Keynote Speaker: Jody Sowell and Closing Remarks

Saturday February 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm CST

Windsor

Speakers

Jody Sowell

President, Missouri Historical Society

Jody Sowell is president of the Missouri Historical Society. He is, in fact, only the 7 th president in the 158-year history of the institution. MHS operates the Missouri History Museum, the Library and Research Center, and Soldiers Memorial Military Museum downtown. Jody has worked... Read More →

Thomas Herron

Saturday February 22, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm CST
Windsor

All