Inkandescent Kids

September252014

History Matters: Jim Basker on the Value of Continuing Ed

Grateful American™ Radio Show
Grateful American™ Radio Show
History Matters: Jim Basker on the Value of Continuing Ed
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When it comes to teaching American history, James G. Basker is known for being able to bring to life the stories, facts, and events of the past.

As president of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History since 1997, Basker has overseen the development of history education initiatives nationwide—including history high schools, teacher seminars, traveling exhibitions, digital archives, and the National History Teacher of the Year Award program.

In this podcast interview you’ll learn:

  • What excites Basker most about American history.
  • The mission, goals, and accomplishments of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
  • What makes kids passionate about learning about the past—and why it’s so important.
  • Why such a large swath of people in the United States don’t know enough about American history—and what can be done to change that.
  • Why Basker started the National History Teacher of the Year award, and the impact it makes today on students and teachers who are passionate about history.
  • And that’s just for starters.

Download the podcast now!

And click here to read more from Jim Basker, who is featured in the October 2014 issue of Be Inkandescent magazine.

About the show: From the mouths of kids come the most profound thoughts and ideas. On the Inkandescent® Kids Show, we take it one step further with interviews by kids, for kids. Yes, there are a few adults involved, too, including experts on parenting, education, and more!

Read all about it: Launched on August 8, 2025, InkandescentKids.com magazine is on a mission to teach kids from kindergarten to college to think critically, like a reporter. Students are welcome to submit articles, photos, illustrations, videos, puzzles, games, and more for review and publication.

We also offer classes: 

  • Journalism (3 sessions): I am an award-winning reporter and teach the journalism classes. In Class 1, the assignment is to be part of our “So You Want to be a …” book project, in which they interview a parent about their work. They learn how to do research, develop interview questions, and practice asking the questions; then they write the article, and we work on it together until it’s ready for our student editors to copyedit and publish it.
  • Photojournalism (2 sessions): Our Inkandescent photographer, AnnaGibbs.com, guides students through the process of taking photos for the articles. She teaches them the essentials of taking a good photograph, how to capture the essence of the story they are working on, and, once she approves the images, we send them to our editorial team for inclusion in the article.
  • Illustration (4 sessions): Award-winning illustrator michaelglenwood.com works with students to create artwork to accompany the articles. He teaches them to identify the main concepts in the article they are working on, create 3 sketches for editor review, and then craft the illustration. Upon his review and approval, it goes to the editorial team.
  • Videos and podcasts (4 sessions): With me, Inkandescent’s video and podcast producer, Nelson Benavides, teaches students how to capture the essence of an interview through video and podcasting. He focuses on helping students understand the technical aspects of production.
  • Newsroom (6 sessions): Our InkandescentKids editor, Ellen Smith, is building our student newsrooms that include a team of editors, copyeditors, proofreaders, and a layout team. In addition to our online magazine, they help us craft a bi-monthly printable publication that features a theme. This September-October theme is New Beginnings.

Click here for pricing and payment options, and learn how to join our InkandescentKids family!

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MEET THE INKANDESCENT® RADIO TEAM

Hope Katz Gibbs, Founder & Executive Producer, InkandescentRadio.com

Brandi Wilsker-Merritt, Director of Podcasting

Nelson Benavides, Director of Videography

Max KukoyInkandescent Website Developer

Michael GibbsInkandescent Art Director

 

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