** CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: CONGRESS IN THE CLASSROOM 2008 **

Deadline: April 15, 2008

Congress in the Classroom is a national, award-winning education program now in
its 16th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the
workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about
Congress. The Center will join with the new Institute for Principled Leadership
in Public Service in conducting the workshop.

Congress in the Classroom is designed for high school or middle school teachers
who teach U.S. history, government, civics, political science, or social
studies. Forty teachers will be selected in 2008 to take part in the program.
Selection will be determined by The Center. All online applications must be
received by no later than April 15, 2008. Individuals will be notified of their
acceptance status by April 30, 2008.

In addition to sessions dealing with Congress, the 2008 program will pay special
attention to the upcoming congressional and presidential elections. The
workshop consists of two types of sessions: those that focus on recent research
and scholarship about Congress or elections (and don't always have an immediate
application in the classroom) and those geared to specific ways to teach
students about Congress or elections.

The workshop will be held Monday, July 21 - Thursday, July 24, at the Hotel Pere
Marquette -- http://www.hotelperemarquette.com/ -- Peoria, Illinois.

The program is certified by the Illinois State Board of Education for up to 22
Continuing Education Units. The program also is endorsed by the National Council
for the Social Studies.

Participants are responsible for (1) a non-refundable $135 registration fee
(required to confirm acceptance after notice of selection) and (2)
transportation to and from Peoria, Illinois. Many school districts will pay all
or a portion of these costs.

The Center pays for three nights lodging at the headquarters hotel (providing a
single room for each participant), workshop materials, local transportation, all
but three meals, and presenter honoraria and expenses. The Center spends between
$25,000 and $30,000 to host the program each year.

Tentative session titles are listed below. (NOTE: Additional sessions will be
listed as presenters are confirmed. More information about the content of each
session will be posted as it becomes available.)

> Opening Remarks: A View from Capitol Hill
The Honorable Ray LaHood, (R-IL, 18th District, U.S. House of Representatives)
CONFIRMED

Congressman LaHood will retire from the House in January 2009, having decided in
2007 not to stand for re-election in 2008. He has served seven terms. The
Congressman will discuss the current agenda in Congress, offer observations
about the upcoming election, and respond to your questions.

> Congressional Insight: An Interactive Simulation of a Member's First Term in
the House of Representatives
Tara Smith, National Association of Manufacturers CONFIRMED

With Congressional Insight, you experience the high-pressured, uncompromising
environment in which legislators must operate. With increasingly tight
deadlines imposed by the simulation, you are part of a team that must decide
which bills to support, which committee posts to seek, how much time to devote
to fund-raising, and what tradeoffs to make amidst constituent, party,
special-interest, and media pressures. The quality of your choices will be
tested in a re-election campaign.

> Sound Bite: Introduction to The Dirksen Center's Web Suite
Cindy Koeppel, The Dirksen Center CONFIRMED

Sound Bites are 30-minute sessions devoted to a single topic. In this one,
Koeppel, the designer of The Center's Web suite, will introduce the six sites
within the suite and illustrate how teachers can use them in their classrooms.
Almost 1.5 million "unique visitors" generated about 70 million "hits" on the
suite in 2007.

> Running for Congress: A Consultant's Perspective
Matt Bisbee, Illinois Executive Director, Victory Enterprises CONFIRMED

Founded in 1993, Victory Enterprises is a comprehensive political consulting and
communications firm. The firm offers a full array of campaign services
including survey research, media production and placement, direct mail design,
grassroots messaging, web strategy and design as well as one-on-one campaign
consulting. Since our inception, we have been involved in over 1,500 campaigns.
The presenter will talk about how congressional candidates are recruited and how
they develop a strategy for election.

> On the Road with Presidential Candidates
Jodi Enda, Journalist

This presenter has covered the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential campaigns for
the Philadelphia Inquirer and Knight Ridder Newspapers. Since then she has done
considerable freelance writing for various magazines. Enda will talk about the
challenges of reporting on this beat, suggest story lines to look out for in
2008, and evaluate the state of presidential campaign reporting this year.

> Reception at Bradley University
Workshop teachers

Enjoy refreshments on the campus of Bradley University and learn more about the
University and the Institute for Principled Leadership in Public Service.

> Running for Congress: A Candidate's Perspective
Jim McConoughey, candidate in the Republican primary, 18th congressional
district, and CEO of the Heartland Partnership. CONFIRMED

In his first run for public office, the presenter finished second in the primary
to replace Congressman Ray LaHood. McConoughey will talk about his decision to
run, the development of a campaign strategy, and the unfolding of the race.

> Where We Stand in the Presidential Race and What to Look For
Tim Teehan, National Sales Director, Campaigns and Elections. CONFIRMED

Campaigns & Elections magazine is a nonpartisan publication with more than
84,000 readers involved in the political process. Lieberman has a unique
vantage point from which to observe the unfolding presidential campaigns. Prior
to serving as publisher, Lieberman consulted on many campaigns and advocacy
programs in the United States and abroad.

> "I’m No Lady, I’m a Member of Congress": Women in Congress, 1917-2006
Kathleen Johnson, Historical Publications Specialist, Office of History and
Preservation, House of Representatives CONFIRMED

As one of the authors of Women in Congress-a book chronicling the history of the
more than 200 women who have served in the House and the Senate-Johnson will
provide background on the publication and its corresponding web component which
contains educational materials designed for use in the classroom. She also will
discuss the forthcoming publication of Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007,
and the many web resources created by the Office of History and Preservation
that document the history of the House of Representatives.

> Sound Bite: Yes, It is Possible to Find Humor in Congress
Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED

Relying on gems located in the archives of Members of Congress, Mackaman
provides examples of what constituents expect of their representatives.
Consider this request of former Congressman Jon Dent: "I am a future inventor.
Tell me some of the inventions of the future so I can start on them now."

> Teaching with Primary Sources
Cindy Rich, Project Director, Teaching with Primary Sources, Eastern Illinois
University CONFIRMED

The Library of Congress's Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program works with
an educational consortium of schools, universities, libraries, and foundations
to help teachers use the Library’s vast collection of digitized primary sources
to enrich their classroom instruction. Schools that have participated in the
program know that it encourages educators to embed primary sources into
curriculum through all disciplines and grade levels to build a foundation of
knowledge, enhance understanding, increase comprehension, and develop
multimedia/information literacy skills.

> From the Campaign Trail: Observations from a Reporter
Tanya Koonce, political reporter, WCBU Radio CONFIRMED

How do reporters decide what to cover in a congressional election? What factors
affect their relationships with the candidates? How do they know when they've
been "spun"? What qualities or skills are required of political reporters?
Koonce, who currently covers the 18th congressional district race to replace
retiring Congressman Ray LaHood, will address these questions and more.

> Predicting the Outcome of the Presidential Election
Frank H. Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center CONFIRMED

Historians, political scientists, economists, and hobbyists all have devised
various models, some sensible, some strange, to predict the outcome of
presidential elections. Mackaman will introduce you to several of them before
focusing on the one that has proven the most prescient.

> How to Get Your Point Across to Congress Members
Stephanie Vance, Advocacy Associates, Washington DC CONFIRMED

How do you break through the "noise" to communicate with a member of Congress?
Vance has the answers. She advises clients on how to reach Congress people
effectively by understanding how congressional offices function and process
information. She will introduce her online advocacy course - something you can
use even after the workshop ends.

Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site -
http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm -- to see what
participants say about the program.

* Registration *

If you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom® 2008
workshop, you can complete an online registration form found at:
http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm