By Hershie Soriano, Cypress Springs HS (A High School Journalism Network collaboration)

After being selected to participate in the highly competitive National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) cultural teacher workshop: Voices of the Ancients: Archaeology and Oral Tradition in the American West, writer and Cypress Springs High School science teacher, Dr. Alain Harvey, will travel to Utah and Colorado this summer to explore the rich history and ancient culture of the Fremont people.

“I came across the program in a NEH newsletter I subscribe to,” Dr. Harvey said. “It felt like an echo from both the past and the future.”

For the selection process, applicants had to write a well-crafted essay explaining their teaching philosophy, their interest in the subject and how they plan to bring the experience back to their students and community.

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“It’s not an audition,” Dr. Harvey said. “It’s more like sharing your story and hoping it resonates. I’m deeply honored to have been selected.”

Packed to the brim with adventure, the Voices of the Ancients teacher workshop will allow Dr. Harvey and many other teachers from around the nation to explore Fremont rock art sites, participate in oral history workshops, meet archaeologists and tribal elders and visit museums and sacred landscapes.

“I’ll walk in the footsteps of forgotten people, listen to stories older than ink and return with something I can pass on,” Dr. Harvey said. “It’s not just about learning facts; it’s about learning how to listen. It’s about honoring the narratives buried beneath our feet and lifting them into light.”

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Having already participated in several other national seminars including physics institutes and cultural heritage programs, Voices of the Ancients will serve Dr. Harvey uniquely in the way that it honors the ancestral pulse beneath the curriculum rather than just emphasizing a focus on content or pedagogy.

“We’ll walk through canyons where the stones remember and we’ll be asked to confront the silences in our textbooks and our teaching,” Dr. Harvey said. “This isn’t just an academic workshop—it’s a cultural reckoning, a journey of ethical storytelling. That’s what makes it rare and why I feel called to it.”

Editor's Note: This article was written by Hershie Soriano, a student at Cypress Springs High School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, through a partnership between My Neighborhood News and the District as part of an established high school journalism network collaboration. My Neighborhood News is a proud supporter of local youth and warmly welcomes the opportunity to provide a platform for students to share their work.