Sussex Middle School teacher attends workshops

SUSSEX — Ken Karnas, a language arts teacher at Sussex Middle School, recently attended two weeklong workshops in July.

He was selected as a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Scholar from a national applicant pool to attend one of 21 NEH Landmarks of American History and culture workshops. This one-week workshop, entitled Sail to Freedom, focused on New Bedford, Mass., and the important role it played in the Underground Railroad.

According to Karnas, it focused on the bravery and sacrifice of Americans who fought for their freedom,

"I want students to appreciate the freedoms we enjoy and realize how important they are. It was inspiring to learn about the determination of freedom-seekers and the citizens who assisted them," he said.

Karnas also received a scholarship to attend Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania for a workshop entitled The American Civil War through Material Culture. That workshop, sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, a nonprofit organization, was devoted to the improvement of history education. The goal of this seminar was to familiarize teachers with the use of primary documents and artifacts in history instruction.

Children need to be able not to just memorize facts, but to be able to examine historical evidence and documents and interpret them," Karnas said. "It was such a rewarding experience and honor to work with teachers and instructors who loved their jobs and were passionate about their areas of discipline. Hopefully, these workshops will allow me to continue to grow as a lifelong learner and become a better teacher."

Karnas, who also is a very accomplished storyteller and a member of the New Jersey Storytelling Guild, produces three annual storytelling workshops for the sixth-graders at the middle school. He looked at these workshops as an opportunity to incorporate these events into his repertoire of stories and anecdotes.

"I can't wait to weave the stories of these summer experiences into this year s upcoming lessons," Karnas said.