Learned more about history

I wanted to express my thanks to the Freedom Library of Yuma for the opportunity to participate in its Constitution class and to attend the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) seminar in Atlanta this summer.

A little on my background: I graduated from Brigham Young University in social science education and have been teaching social studies at Fourth Avenue Junior High the past two years. I recently moved to Phoenix, and am again teaching eighth-grade social studies, and I will be starting a master's program in geographic information systems this fall at Arizona State University.

While my background and work are in the social sciences, my strong points are geography and anthropology, and I have become better versed in history as well. Political science and economics have always been somewhat of a struggle for me, and I am grateful for this program for boosting my knowledge in these areas.

I was one of three scholarship recipients of the Freedom Library Education and Scholarship Program this past spring. The other two were Amber Meade, a 12th grade home school student, and Luis Zinzun, a student at Arizona Western College.

The goal of The Freedom Library is to help anyone interested to learn the ideas on liberty as expressed through the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

I attended FEE's history seminar in Atlanta this summer. There were students in attendance from Latin America, Europe and all over the United States. I made a lot of great friends with whom I stay in contact via Facebook. The accommodations at the seminar were great, and it was neat opportunity to visit Atlanta, particularly the World of Coca-Cola and the Martin Luther King monument, which helped me develop my curriculum for the coming year.

The professors at the seminar were great. I took good notes during the lectures, and will use them as reference as I plan lessons in upcoming years of teaching. I particularly learned a lot about the Great Depression and different theories as to how it started and ended, as well as the founding of the United States and the economics involved with that part of history. The professors were very approachable, and were always willing to engage in discussion with students throughout the week.

While I am not a libertarian, there were many angles of the free market economy that I had not previously considered. This seminar provided me with a wider scope of knowledge, and an in-depth exploration into a prominent economic viewpoint.

I learned a lot about the Constitution in the Freedom Library's course, and the FEE seminar taught me about the economy's role in ensuring liberty. While my goal was to learn more about government and economics, I would say that I have done that through this program. I am grateful for this opportunity, and I hope that many others will benefit as I have.

Matt Thomas

Phoenix