The Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics (LAIC), a nonprofit, nonpartisan program of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has announced the winning educators in the call for lesson plan proposals for its short historical documentary The Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment, a film in Annenberg Classroom’s award-winning Constitution Project series.
Educators from across the country submitted proposals for review by a team of experienced education professionals. The completed lesson plans will be posted online in March and available as one of the many no-cost, high-quality education resources on Annenberg Classroom.
The educators in New Hampshire, Washington, and Michigan who wrote the winning proposals will receive a stipend to develop lesson plans for the film “The Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment” (watch the film here). The three teachers have a combined 40+ years of teaching experience and are the recipients of numerous teaching honors. Each shared their reasons for submitting a lesson-plan proposal:
Donna Morin, a social studies educator with 15 years’ experience at Alvirne High School in Hudson, N.H., teaches college prep and Advanced Placement levels of psychology and U.S. government and has developed an elective called Law and Order to excite students about the judiciary. She teaches the 8th Amendment in several of her classes and wanted to utilize the Annenberg Classroom film, which she saw as a great springboard to an introductory unit in her law class that would incorporate juvenile and adult justice and whether we are meeting the goals of our justice system.
Joy Robinette, a social studies, humanities, and English teacher for nine years at the middle and high school levels, currently teaches 11th grade U.S. History and Humanities at Cheney High School in Washington, where she also is the Professional Learning Community lead and a new teacher mentor and coach through the State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. She works in curriculum development and loves creating interactive content that encourages high levels of student critical thinking and engagement. She submitted a lesson plan proposal because she enjoys writing curriculum that gets students thinking about their role in society and how they are personally affected by the rights and responsibilities outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. She also believes that juvenile justice is a perfect topic to engage students and create a bridge between the founding documents and modern societal implications.
Ryan Werenka has been a social studies teacher for over 20 years in the Troy School District, in Michigan, currently teaching AP U.S. Government and Politics and AP Comparative Government and Politics at Troy High School. He was named the 2021 Michigan History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. He serves as a teacher adviser to the National Constitution Center, Retro Report, PBS NewsHour Classroom, The Council on Foreign Relations, Civics 101 Podcast, and iCivics. Werenka submitted a lesson plan because it presented thought-provoking brain research that demonstrated why it is not always appropriate to punish juveniles under the adult justice system. He added that when he discussed the Supreme Court case Roper v. Simmons with his AP U.S. Government students, it was evident that they were interested in the topic, so he wanted to create a lesson plan that would benefit his own students and that could be used by other teachers as well.
