New York, NY (June 11, 2019)— The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce that it has received a $20,000 grant from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program which is administered by Waynesburg University in the eastern region of the U.S. Funds will support the inclusion of materials from the Library’s collection in Teach This Poem, an award-winning series for educators, during the 2019-2020 school year.

As the nation’s leading poetry organization offering educational resources, the Academy of American Poets looks forward to strengthening its efforts to assist teachers of all subjects in incorporating poetry and primary sources into their lesson plans to enhance student learning. The aim of including primary sources in Teach This Poem is to provide historical and other contexts to each poem and to prompt students’ analytical thinking and inquiry.

“Poetry can have a powerful impact on students studying different subjects because the art from helps them to think in synthesizing ways. We’re pleased to now have an opportunity to assist teachers in sharing poetry and primary sources from the Library of Congress’s incredible collection with their students, as we look to enrich the Teach This Poem series,” said Jennifer Benka, executive director of the Academy of American Poets.“ 

Launched in 2015, Teach This Poem is a weekly publication that features one topical poem selected from the Poets.org collection accompanied by a primary source and related classroom activities. Produced under the direction of the Academy of American Poets’ Educator in Residence, Dr. Madeleine Fuchs Holzer, the Common Core-aligned digital series reaches 30,000+ K-12 teachers across the U.S. each Monday and is a key offering in the organization’s suite of free educational resources. 

To receive Teach This Poem and access other free poetry materials for the classroom, visit www.poets.org/materials-teachers.

About the Academy of American Poets

The Academy of American Poets is our nation’s leading champion of poets and poetry. Founded in 1934, the organization produces Poets.org, the world’s largest publicly-funded website for poets and poetry; National Poetry Month; the popular Poem-a-Day series; American Poets magazine; Teach This Poem and other resources for K-12 educators; an annual series of poetry readings and special events; and awards more funds to poets than any other organization. It also coordinates and supports the work of a national Poetry Coalition, an alliance of more than 20 poetry organizations working to promote the value poets bring to our culture and the important contribution poetry makes in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds.

About the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Regional Program

The TPS Regional Program promotes the widespread, sustained and effective use of primary sources from the Library of Congress in K-12 classrooms by increasing access to the TPS program. Through this effort, hundreds of organizations from all 50 states, and the District of Columbia have enhanced their programming for educators. Waynesburg University, Illinois State University, and Metropolitan State University of Denver administer grants on behalf of the Library of Congress in the East, Midwest, and West. Further information about the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program is available at www.loc.gov/teachers/tps.