The Foundation for Andover Schools is proud to sponsor the winter Saturday Academy at Andover High School for enrichment courses over our nation's great history. Saturday Academy is open to all Andover and Wichita-area schools and is tuition-free. The academy will run on Saturday mornings from January 28-March 4. Students enroll in a session that runs from 9:00-10:30 AM. Free breakfast will be provided for attendees.  You will receive an acceptance letter at the email you provide in this application during the week of January 23rd.  

COURSE OFFERINGS 2023

Hamilton! - Middle School Students only

Kelly Helmer has been teaching middle school social studies for the past 33 years and this is her tenth year teaching Saturday Academy.  She has a Masters in American History. Mrs. Helmer is one of the pioneer leads on the Andover Instructional Framework--Chromebook classroom and has been a regular Bill of Rights Institute participant.

From the $10 bill to the U.S. Constitution, Alexander Hamilton has left his influence on the America that endures today.  This high energy class will explore the  life of Hamilton and his integral roles as a writer, lawyer, father, husband, delegate of the Constitutional Convention, statesman, soldier, and the first Treasury Secretary that have shaped America.  We will use primary sources, break-outs, rap battles, document and song analysis, virtual museum exhibits, movie clips, debates, readers theatre, and art projects.  Explore beyond the hit Broadway musical Hamilton and discover the real Alexander Hamilton. Students will need a fully charged Chromebook for each Saturday class.

Serial Killers in American History (High School students only)

Nicole Kallenbach- Nicole teaches AP US History, economics, and psychology at Andover Central High School.  She has taught social studies for 24 years and over those years she has taught a variety of topics in both junior high and high school.  In 2015 Nicole was the ACHS staff member of the year and in 2017 she was the district nominee for Kansas Teacher of the Year.  She currently serves as the department chair at ACHS.  At Andover Central she has been a part of the Teaching American History Grant and has taught Saturday Academy sessions on Serial Killers, Sports in History, Presidential Scandals, and First Ladies.  

“Serial Killers” will assess the validity of the belief that the criminal mind is both nature and nurture by analysis evidence.  It will also force students to look at the rights of killers and their victims.  Over five weeks of delving into different decades we will build the skill of defining and defending an argument.  Each morning, using both secondary and primary sources, we will investigate the decade that killers were raised in and the one they killed in.  Students will have to use critical thinking skills to truly develop their opinions and turn it into an argument.  By analyzing documents and images students will develop their own argument each week and defend it.

 

1968: A Transformative Year in American History

Grant Bacon- B.S.E., M.S.L, Social Studies Teacher at Andover Central High School 2001-current.  Social Studies teacher in Pratt Kansas from 1999-2001.  Participant in USD 385 Rigor and Relevance Academy and Chromebook Pilot Program. Head Baseball Coach Andover Central High School 2001-current. 

1968 is arguably the most chaotic, turbulent and most influential twelve month period in American history.  The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy shocked the world.  At the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the police used brutal tactics to try to stop massive rioting in Chicago city streets.  500,000 U.S. troops were in Vietnam and after the Tet Offensive even America’s most trusted news anchor Walter Cronkite said the war could not be won.  Shocking pictures emerged later in the year of the My Lai Massacre that exposed the killing of over 500 Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops.  At the 1968 Olympics, two U.S. athletes shocked the nation by raising one hand and bowing their head during the national anthem.  Few years in America’s history have as many events that would shape the country for decades to come. 

 

The Power and Art of Photography in American History

David Fonseca is a renowned artist and photographer who possesses a bachelors of fine arts and a masters in the visual arts. His passion for art coupled with his dedication to his students is unmatched in the field of art in the Wichita and suburban high schools.

Photography has reshaped the human understanding of our reality. These snapshots into the world- and into the past- open a window to our understanding (or misunderstanding) of events. This course will explore photographs that have left an imprint on Americans’ conscience. From the first photographs of the American Civil War to pictures that capture the domestic upheaval our country has faced into the 21st century, students will examine and interpret a treasure trove of photographs. The primary resources in the collections of the FSA and OWI housed in the Library of Congress will be used to explore the story behind the lens and the challenges to bring a story to life without words.  We will experience the process of developing a photographer’s eye to capture an image that can sway the viewer, move a community and government to action through document analysis, creating collaborative storyboards and image capturing and experience an editorial selection process

SURVIVING APUSH (High School juniors only enrolled in AP US History)
Joel T. Schaefer- AP US History Table Leader/Reader, Nationally Board Certified, Project Leader for the Teaching American History Federal Grant in Andover, Gilder Lehrman Institute Participant at Georgetown University 2010, Gilder Lehrman Institute Participant at 9/11 and American Memory (NYU) 2018, Department and District Chairman of Social Studies in USD 385, Kansas History Teacher of the Year, 2014-15, Saturday Academy Director.

Surviving APUSH is a course designed to review the critical thinking, writing, and reading skills commonly used in the AP curriculum and to prepare students for the AP Exam in May. Students will analyze various multiple choice test-taking strategies, review and score Document Based Questions, identify the historical thinking skills and participate in class & small group discussions of themes that span American History. Each week’s lesson is designed for students to participate in games, activities, and discussions and students will receive an abundance of resources to help prepare them for mastering the material on the AP Exam. Test taking strategies will also serve students well for the ACT exam.