Mike Feinberg loves teaching his 8th grade social studies classes about the executive and legislative branches of the government.
He partners with a local voting advocacy group for a bill-tracking project with his students and helps the kids reach out to elected officials during class time — usually successfully.
But Feinberg, a teacher at Walt Disney Magnet Elementary in Uptown, wanted to strengthen his judicial branch lessons. So he applied and was one of 60 teachers across the country accepted into the Supreme Court Summer Institute in Washington, D.C. in June, which gave an inside look at the functioning of the country’s highest court.
“With all the stuff that’s been in the news lately … these are things that kids are often talking about in class, or they see it on the news — or more likely on TikTok — and they come in and we talk about it,” Feinberg said. “I feel like it’s now easier for me to talk about the processes, or how the court approaches that stuff, more than the content of the case itself.”
As one of only two middle school teachers in the cohort — most were high school educators — Feinberg said he learned from his colleagues about how to best prepare kids for high school. His goal in these lessons is to help students become excited and interested in government, including how these systems affect their lives, so they become more likely to take part in civic life as an adult.
“I now have this toolkit with the best ways to engage kids in those discussions,” Feinberg said.
His six-day trip featured introductions to Supreme Court clerks and, on the first day there, even a seat in the courtroom when justices handed down their decision in United States v. Rahimi. That was a highly publicized case about gun rights for people with domestic-violence restraining orders.
“Anybody can appreciate it, but as a social studies teacher, I was like, ‘Holy crap, this is incredible,’” Feinberg said.
He wasn’t the only Chicago Public Schools teacher in the capital this summer.
Virginia Valdez was the only kindergarten teacher among 30 from across the country to take part in the five-day White House History Teacher Institute. A self-proclaimed lover of the “enduring American symbol” that is the White House, Valdez said the experience was “incredible.”
“It’s not that often that you have the opportunity to engage and be around people who have a very particular passion in the White House, like mine,” Valdez said. She has stayed in touch with other teachers and had helpful discussions about how they’re taking their new information back to their classrooms.
“I have a very clear vision now of how I want to present it” to her students at Jamieson Elementary in West Ridge, she said. “I will be sharing about the history of the White House, but also teaching students about the different roles of the White House” as a home, office, museum and park.
Valdez got tours from White House curators and learned details she never knew.
She said her kindergarteners last year were thrilled to learn she’d be heading to the White House over the summer. She said they were convinced she was going to meet the president. Sadly, they’ll be in 1st grade this year and won’t participate in her White House lessons — but Valdez hopes to coordinate with their teachers to give them a chance to learn about the trip.
“They love it,” Valdez said of the White House. “They’re highly interested in it. They’re highly interested in learning about important people. … And that’s sort of the intent, how do you make the White House come to life for young children? … When people think of kindergarteners, they’re really underestimated, their ability to think and engage meaningfully. So this gives me an opportunity to show, yes, they are critical thinkers, too.”