The Delta Center\u2019s \u201cMost Southern Place on Earth\u201d workshop began its eighth year this week with an opening reception at the Martin and Sue King Railroad Museum in downtown Cleveland on Sunday evening.<\/p>\n
The workshop, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, attracts 36\u00a0K-12 educators from across the country. Participants will spend a week in the Delta immersed in the history and culture of the region, interacting directly with its people and places.<\/p>\n
Brooke Willis, a high school teacher from Greensboro, North Carolina, said she looks forward to combining her interest in the blues with her passion for history and civil rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited about looking at history and being in it versus the idea of learning about it through books and movies,\u201d she said. \u201cActually being in the space, I\u2019m really about getting in touch with the energy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katherine Hackney of Marietta, Georgia\u00a0said she is excited for the hands-on learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been teaching a civil rights unit for 12 years, and I\u2019m finally visiting the places I\u2019ve been teaching about,\u201d said Hackney. \u201cI felt like [the Delta] is a place where I could grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
This workshop has created a national network of over 500 educational and cultural ambassadors for the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. Participants take what they have learned from the workshop back to their schools and communities, sharing stories and lessons from the Delta with students, colleagues, family and friends, both nationally and globally.<\/p>\n