Posted October 29, 2013

Representatives from ING’s Unsung Heroes Award program presented administrators from Ancillae-Assumpta Academy in Wyncote with a $2,000 grant for its winning program, “4 I’s on Local History: Imagine, Investigate, Integrate, Inspire.”

The goal of this program — one of three winners in Pennsylvania — is to help students make a connection between the area where the students go to school and the history they study.

Through the program, they will be asked to answer why the preservation of a local historical site is important. They will explore historic locations from a number of perspectives, working with local experts to understand the local environment, namely Cheltenham Township in Montgomery County.

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The students will be exposed to historical procedures and techniques by examining primary source materials pertaining to locations important to Cheltenham Township’s history. As they visit historical places of significance, students will identify elements of the buildings’ structure including the architecture and purpose. They will investigate the history of the property including who built it and why and research any events that took place at the site that are significant to local history.

Apple iPads will be used to take notes, record their interviews with the local expert and take video and photographs while at the site. Students will then create documentaries using Apple’s iMovie software that showcase why the preservation of local sites is important to the history of Cheltenham Township.

ING Unsung Heroes began in 1995 as a way for ING U.S. to demonstrate its commitment to the education community. Grants are given to K-12 educators utilizing new teaching methods and techniques that improve learning.

Ancillae-Assumpta Academy is a private, co-educational, Catholic elementary school (grades preschool through eight) sponsored by the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.