L to R back row: William Freddy Curtis, Cannon County High School; Erika Ashford, Ridgeway High School; Addison Pate, Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School; Gordon Sisk, Karns High School
L to R front row: Abby Sutton, coordinator of Civic Engagement, Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett; Cindy Bellamy, John Adams Elementary School; Lain Whitaker, St. Mary's Episcopal School; Rebecca Marino, Cleveland City Schools; Secretary of State Tre Hargett
The Secretary of State’s office announces a new online resource designed by Tennessee teachers. 15 lesson plans and teaching aids based on the Tennessee Blue Book are now available.
In March, seven teachers from across Tennessee formed the Secretary of State’s Blue Book Curriculum Task Force to create lessons that align with the state’s current social studies curriculum standards, and allow teachers to quickly use the Blue Book in civics or government classes from elementary through high school.
“The Tennessee Blue Book serves as a powerful textbook for our state's educators.
Tennessee's students and teachers will benefit from the task force's dedicated work,” said Secretary of State Tre Hargett.
The Blue Book, considered the definitive almanac of Tennessee state government, is produced every other year by the Secretary of State's office. The Blue Book contains a wealth of information about the governor, state legislators, state legislative committees, administrative departments of state government and the government's structure. It also contains information about local governments, the federal government, state history and much more.
One example, Your Representatives in Government & How You Can Be Involved created by Addison Pate of Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School in Davidson County, teaches how a citizen locates information about their representatives, what actions their elected officials have taken, and how citizens can play an important role in the decision making process.
All of the lesson plans, including information on obtaining hard and digital copies of the Blue Book, can be found at:
sos.tn.gov/products/executive/blue-book-lesson-plans.
The task force consists of Erika Ashford, Ridgeway High School in Shelby County; Cindy Bellamy, John Adams Elementary School in Sullivan County; William Freddy Curtis, Cannon County High School; Rebecca Marino, Cleveland City Schools in Bradley County; Addison Pate, Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School in Davidson County (formerly of Ravenwood High School in Williamson County); Gordon Sisk, Karns High School in Knox County; and Lain Whitaker, St. Mary's Episcopal School in Shelby County.
The 2015-2016 edition of Tennessee Blue Book is scheduled to be published in January.