The Department of Teaching and Learning encourages education students to further develop their lesson planning skills while honoring Fanfare speakers Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson through the Plessy v. Ferguson Lesson Plan Writing Contest. The contest serves as a build up for the department Fanfare Series entitled “Forum on Milestones – Forty Miles of Courage 120 Years Later,” focusing on the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case. All entries must be turned in by 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, in the Teacher Education Center, Room 2004. “I thought this would make lesson-planning relevant to what’s happening in our department during Fanfare with the descendants of Plessy and Ferguson coming here to speak,” said Dr. Frances Wood, associate professor, teacher development coordinator and the contest committee chair. “I teach methods class and supervise student teachers, and they do an excellent job of writing lesson plans. What a wonderful, creative way to reward our students for a job well done!” Students submitting entries are required to submit a hard copy in a Word document with the entry form as a cover page. The lesson plan must address current and/ or historic issues related to the landmark case, Plessy v. Ferguson, which originated in New Orleans, La. Students should consider topics such as civil rights and education. Contestants may choose one category to submit a lesson plan for out of the following: grades PK-3, grades 1-5, grades 4-8, secondary or special education. Winners will be announced on Oct. 18 in the Lecture Hall of the Teacher and Education Center, Room 1022 at the 11 a.m. Fanfare event. There will be one winner per category. “Student Education Association at Southeastern (SEAS), an education organization, is furnishing five $20 gift certificates that we’ll use as prizes along with Certificates of Recognition,” said Wood. While this is the first Lesson Plan Writing Contest, Wood considers the possibility of continuing with the idea. “Yes, it’s new,” said Wood. “But we’d like to have similar ones in the future.” The contest is co-sponsored by the Department of Teaching and Learning Teacher Development, SEAS and Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources. Certificates will be presented by Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson during the lecture entitled, “Our Forefathers: Their Voice and Their Vision.” The lecture will address the impact of slavery on the Reconstruction Era, the doctrine of “separate but equal” and segregation. Despite the opportunity and reward, some students express concerns regarding the time constraints of creating an entry lesson plan while working on other classes. “It sounds interesting, but it depends on what the reward is because between my EDUC 203 and EPSY 301 classes I’ve heard enough about diversity and teaching culturally in your classes,” said Kimberly Luce, a sophomore special education major. “The schools I’ll be working at will be low income schools and traditionally will have a great percentage of African American students. I think it would be interesting to get more information about it to see how others would incorporate the Plessy v. Ferguson case in their lesson plans.” Flyers and entry forms can be obtained from the education faculty or in the Office of Department of Teaching and Learning in Teacher Education Center, Room 2004.