Oakridge Elementary School kindergarten teacher Jennifer Burgin was selected by George Washington’s Mount Vernon to participate in the 2019-20 Life Guard Teacher Fellowship Program. Burgin is one of five teachers selected for this opportunity to enhance their 18th-century knowledge, explore different teaching techniques, and create new curricula for Mount Vernon during their residential fellowship at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington.

The Life Guard Teacher Fellows Program is facilitated by The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, which opened September 27, 2013. The Program supports the creation of classroom materials and teacher resources about the life, legacy, and leadership of George Washington. Fellows live and study at the Washington Library on the grounds of Mount Vernon as they work to create educational resources that meet 21st-century classroom needs.

Burgin will work with Helen Haas, a kindergarten teacher from Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Downey, Calif. to create a bilingual children’s picture book to introduce George Washington, Mount Vernon, and the 18th-century to both English and Spanish speaking students.

Burgin is a National Board Certified Teacher and 2016 APS Teacher of the Year. She was also selected to be a Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellow that took her to the Galápagos Islands. Burgin and Discovery Elementary School teacher Elizabeth Kuleski co-authored A is for Arlington.

For more information about the Life Guard Teacher Fellows Program, please visit www.mountvernon.org/teacherfellowship.