St. Leonard School is the proud recipient of The National Endowment for the Humanities’ (NEH) new Picturing America initiative. Picturing America provides an innovative way for citizens of all ages to explore the history and character of America through some of our nation’s great works of art.

As one of the over 26,000 schools and public libraries recently to receive the program, we now have access to this high quality, free resource that we are using to engage our students with discussions of our nation’s art, history, civics, literature, and more!

The images of people, places, and events illustrating American history give our students a chance to better understand our country’s past and its ideals.  What better way to see the courage of a great leader than through Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware?  How better to appreciate the power of American democracy than through Norman Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech?  These masterpieces are opening our students’ eyes to America’s rich history and culture while also providing an introduction to the broader world of the humanities.

Our teachers are very excited about the opportunity to incorporate this new resource into the curriculum.

For more information on the program, you can visit the Picturing America Web site at: www.PicturingAmerica.neh.gov.  Feel free to peruse the site, and check out the images and the great links included. Sit down with your kids and start conversations about the beautiful masterpieces!

Picturing America is distributed by the NEH in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA).  For information about the ALA, please visit www.ala.org.