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Almost 50 history teachers get lesson at Teddy Roosevelt home

OYSTER BAY, N.Y. — It's one thing to read about Teddy Roosevelt's exploits as big-game hunter, Rough Rider in the Spanish-American War, blue-blooded intellectual, and chest-beating, turn-of-the-century president.

It's another to look into the eyes of a 1,200-pound African Cape Buffalo that he brought down....

"He wasn't just the 26th president of the United States, but a real man with many exciting sides to his life," said Eileen McGaghran, who teaches history at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua. "For history teachers, seeing all this, getting this in-depth content, the detail, the stories, will really help in the classroom to get kids' attention. That's what we want."

McGaghran was one of close to 50 history teachers from Westchester and Putnam who visited Sagamore Hill on Thursday as part of a special program to breathe life into history for normally classroom-bound teachers, so they can, in turn, excite students about days gone by.

A three-year federal grant to the Putnam-Northern Westchester Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which could be worth almost $1.7 million if extended to five years, is driving the initiative. BOCES is one of 125 school districts across the country chosen for the grant....

All this year, the teachers are studying the American presidency, with the aid of experts like Andrew Robertson, an associate professor of history at Lehman College.

He's lectured them about the ranking of American presidents — the consensus today is Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Washington — and accompanied the slow-moving, 165-minute bus trip to Oyster Bay....
Read entire article at LoHud.com