Reagan Education Workshops

About the Bloggers

Melanie Gnau

Hey everyone! My name is Melanie Gnau and I am a summer intern in the Education Department at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. My ongoing project is to pull documents on the subject of foreign policy, specifically Afghanistan and Nicaragua for the Document of the Month workshop. But Document of the Month is not the only project I’ve been working on. I have also been formatting education packets, researching, creating worksheets and working on this blog!

I am a North Carolina native and I currently attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where I am working on my master’s degree in Library Science. In my free time I enjoy attending flea markets, sampling new cuisine and attempting to become a technology maven.

My name is Ji Chang and I am an intern for NARA’s Education Department at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. I am currently working on pulling primary sources from the Reagan Archives on the subject of Lebanon for the Department’s Document of the Month Workshop. I am also working on researching various topics, creating educational handouts and activity sheets on Reagan’s presidency, and on this blog!

I am a graduate student in the School of Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, concentrating on Archives and Records Management. I enjoy the outdoors, yoga, and discovering and re-discovering good music!

Bryan Morrison

My name is Bryan Morrison and I am a summer intern in the Education Department at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. My continuing project is to pull together documents on the Supreme Court and President Reagan’s Inaugural Addresses for the Document of the Month workshop. Additionally, I have been working on the Veteran’s History Project, an exciting ongoing collaboration with the Library of Congress that records the personal stories of veterans on DVD and preserves them for posterity.

I currently attend California State University Northridge where I am working on my Master’s Degree in History. I enjoy reading, playing the guitar and watching reality television like MonsterQuest.

I am Michael Matini, a summer intern for the education department at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA. My primary duty rests on conducting research on primary source documents that relate to the presidency of Ronald Reagan for the Document of the Month workshop. My current project centers on pulling boxes of documents in association with President Reagan’s economic policy during his two terms in office. Much of this material relates to President Reagan’s landmark tax reform acts of 1981 and 1986. In addition to economic policy, I am researching some of Reagan’s gubernatorial material, and his time as president of the Screen Actors guild under the topic of “the path of the great communicator.” I also hope to assist fellow intern Brian Morrison with the ongoing oral history project for the Library of Congress at the Reagan Library.

I am a native resident of Southern California, and currently in the Master of Arts Program at California State University Fullerton (CSUF), with an emphasis on United States history during the twentieth century. In May 2009, I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from CSUF. My interests outside of school include spending quality time with spouse, woodworking, home improvements, classic cars, reading history, following political and current affairs, and NFL during the Fall.

Hello, my name is Mira Cohen, and I am the Director of Education at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Recently, I have spearheaded the state-of-the art discovery center, here at the museum. Currently, I run the Reagan Library teacher workshop programs and continue to devise and create a core set of original materials, developing and organizing the programs, and partnering with a local university for credit options.

I am a veteran classroom teacher who, prior to coming on board at the Reagan Library, served as principal of Cohen Curriculum Design. I created educational materials and planned and implemented educator workshops and programs for companies and organizations such as PBS, CNN, UCLA, Los Angeles County Office of Education, CraniaMania, the National Council on Economic Education, and the Zimmer Children’s Museum. I hold a Master of Education degree from the University of Maryland at College Park and I enjoy spending time with my three children.

Hello, I am Lauren Arias and I am the Education and Public Programs Coordinator for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. My primary responsibilities are planning and implementation of the public programs which engage thousands visitors each year. I coordinate curriculum development, education workshops, and educational programming for students. I am also responsible for the logistical requirements of the Document of the Month Educator Workshop and compilations and dissemination of the curriculum developed through the program.

Prior to coming to the Reagan Library in November 2005, I worked for the Conejo Valley Unified School District in Thousand Oaks, California, implementing a computer-based learning system tailored to individual student needs. I also provided extracurricular learning opportunities for gifted and talented students and instructed remedial classes for reading and mathematics.

I am a certified public accountant and I have three kids—one in middle school, one in high school and one in college.

Comments

Comment from Christi
Time July 26, 2010 at 10:05 pm

So nice to meet you all today!