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Many educational initiatives are being developed and encouraged by the CCMF board of trustees and its Education Committee.
The Foundation sponsors an annual educational contest for Vermont school children to write essays or develop projects about Calvin Coolidge.
We now offer a course, Vermont on Stage. Please click on the link for our brochure about the new course.
Our "living history" video, "Calvin Coolidge: More than Two Words," featuring Jim Cooke has been completed. The foundation commissioned film maker Charles Rattigan to produce and direct the video. Order the video or download the study guide (445kb PDF file).
Elderhostels are arranged with the Coolidge Foundation and the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation during the season. Jim Cooke performs for the participants and Cyndy Bittinger, our former Executive Director, gives an overview of Vermont history and tells First Lady Grace Coolidge's story.
In 1998 the Foundation worked with the John F. Kennedy Library to present an academic conference. Speakers included Michael S. Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts, Professor Robert E. Gilbert of Northeastern University, and Robert Sobel, the recent biographer of Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge family members also spoke. Sheldon Stern, historian at the Kennedy Library and Jim Cooke, the solo historical interpreter of Calvin Coolidge, were co-planners. The essays produced for the conference can be obtained through CCMF; they were printed in The New England Journal of History and sent to teachers throughout New England, and are now available on our website in the Research section.
CCMF encourages new research on Calvin Coolidge and publishes The Real Calvin Coolidge. Volunteers submit excellent articles. Visit our Bookstore to obtain a copy.
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Diane Kemble of Springfield, Vermont has joined the Foundation as the new Educational Coordinator. She will oversee the development and implementation of a variety of educational programs and events for students and the general public which support the educational goals of the Coolidge Foundation. This year, she will organize the in-depth history labs which teaches Vermont history to elementary school children. These labs, which focus on farm life and the Coolidge family, include activities such as sheep shearing with hand tools as well as planting and harvesting crops. Diane is also developing a traveling Calvin Coolidge program for school children who cannot come to Plymouth Notch. She will also expand the educational materials on the Coolidge website at: www.calvincoolidge. org. Diane is a retired elementary school teacher from the Union Street School in Springfield, Vermont. She has a Masters in Education from Antioch New England and a BS from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. She has a strong interest in theater, the arts, and in history. Diane believes that integrating the arts with content areas make the most sense of how children learn, express themselves, and share what they know. She looks forward to combining history with the arts and creating hands-on learning – both of which will be vital contributions to promote the legacy of Calvin Coolidge.