Contact: Public Relations
(863) 680-4118

FSC Center for Florida History launches
"Teacher-in-Residence" program

LAKELAND, Fla. (Jan. 6, 2003) - Florida Southern College's Center for Florida History is pleased to announce that Scott Fields of Southwest Middle School will become its first "teacher-in-residence." Fields comes to the Center for Florida History as part of a three-year $900,000 U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History grant to be administered through the Polk County Public Schools. Rozanne (Rozy) Scott of George Jenkins High School has been appointed grant manager. 

In partnership with the PCPS, the Lakeland Ledger, Miles College, the Polk County Historical Association, the Polk County Education Foundation, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and other co-partners, the Center for Florida History will launch "Teaching American History with a Florida Flavor." The program is designed to enhance teachers' knowledge of U.S. history and improve history-teaching skills. Fields will develop curriculum from oral histories, newspapers, websites, and other resources to enrich the teaching and learning of American history. 

Scott will administer the program, facilitate curriculum development, and form a connective link to the Polk County teachers and the resources made available by the grant partners. She will also coordinate the Summer Immersion Seminar for Polk County social studies teachers that will include visits to sites that link Florida and U. S. History. 

Fields, a native of Lakeland, earned his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Florida in 1994. Returning to Lakeland soon thereafter, he taught at North Lakeland Elementary and in 2000 joined the faculty of Southwest Middle School. While at Southwest he served as social studies department chairperson. Fields also managed in-service training for other social studies teachers in Polk County, working in partnership with "History Alive!" An avid golfer, Fields also enjoys reading and traveling. He is married to Deanna DeSilvestro, a teacher at McKeel Academy, and they have one child, Ethan. 

Scott has taught honors and advanced placement American history courses at George Jenkins High School since 1993. A native Floridian and Florida Southern College graduate, she has also done graduate work in economics at the University of North Carolina as an R. J. Reynolds fellow. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she has served on the Polk County district curriculum development committee for American history, and in 1999 she was the Polk County high school social studies teacher of the year. The same year she was inducted into the Florida League of Teachers. Scott's husband, Sam, directs the Criminal Justice Academy at Kathleen High School. 

For further information, contact James M. Denham, director, Center for Florida History at (863) 680-4312 or click on www.flsouthern.edu/flhistory

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

###