teacher institute at NMAD group photo

NMAD Creates Lasting Impact in Diplomacy Education with Teacher Institute

From July 15 to 19, 2019, the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) partnered with the State Department’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms to conduct its first annual Teacher Institute for 25 middle and high school teachers. From the almost 100 teachers who applied, 25 public school teachers from Arkansas, Montgomery County, MD, Fairfax County, VA, and the District of Columbia were selected to participate in the week-long program. 

In partnership with the State Department’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms, the program provided teachers of 6th-12th grade students with unprecedented access to the Department of State as well as content-rich training in the history and practice of diplomacy and how to incorporate diplomatic skills into the classroom. The teachers had the rare, behind-the-scenes opportunity to meet diplomats from across bureaus, engage in issue briefings, visit the European Union Delegation, tour the Great Seal and work with the artifact collections of both the NMAD and the Diplomatic Reception Rooms.

Now that the teachers have tremendous insight into the work of the Department of State, they will build lesson plans and activities based on the artifact collections and skills of diplomacy, which the NMAD and the Diplomatic Reception Rooms will incorporate into their online offerings.