Texas History Awakens is an online interactive history program for middle school students. Aligned with 7th grade Texas State Standards, (TEKS), Texas History Awakens provides lessons about Prehistoric Texas, Texas Geography, European Exploration, the Mission System, the Texas Revolution, Texas in the Civil War, Reconstruction in Texas, the Old West, and the Roaring Twenties through Modern Times in Texas. Also covered are Texas Culture and Government, giving students insight on the people and the governing process in their state. This platform provides text and audio in English and Spanish to accommodate English Language Learners and students at all reading levels. Students are assessed at the end of each of the 82 lessons and teachers and administrators can track their skill levels in the virtual reports. Written answers and Essays also provide clear knowledge of students’ grasp of the content and teachers can respond to students using the online messaging system. This will also prepare students for future grades and state assessments where reading comprehension and responses are critical for their progression. Texas History Awakens is a comprehensive Middle School program for the classroom or home to help educate students on the great state of Texas.
Dan Kuenster
Dan is the creative director behind Texas History Awakens. His career began at Walt Disney Studios where he studied under one of the Nine Old Men, Eric Larsen. He later joined Don Bluth Studios, where he served as an animator on popular movies such as The Secret of NIMH, The Land Before Time, and An American Tail. He also co-directed All Dogs Go to Heaven.
In April of 2004, the National Television Academy presented Dan with an Emmy for his Outstanding Individual Achievement in Storyboarding for Jakers, a PBS children’s program.
Dan began to explore multimedia at 7th Level, where he designed and directed award-winning CD-ROM Edutainment programs and games.
Dan spent the next 15 years as the creative head behind Istation, an interactive education company. Dan worked closely with curriculum experts bringing Reading, Science, Math and Spanish to a new level of engagement and understanding.
In the last two years, Dan has been developing Texas History Awakens, a middle school interactive program to awaken students’ interest in history. Working with educators and engineers, Dan has used his 20 years of experience to help design an engaging program with both students and teachers in mind.
Kathleen Leos
Prior to establishing this new endeavor, Ms. Leos served a six-year (2002-2007) presidential appointment as the Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) established by Congress in the 2002 No Child Left Behind-Title III legislation. In that position, Ms. Leos served as principal advisor to the U.S. Secretaries of Education, Dr. Rod Paige and Margaret Spellings, on all matters related to ELL students, and developed regulations, policies, and procedures to create a national education and accountability infrastructure in 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, for the 5.5 million Limited English Proficient students who grace America’s k-12 classrooms. The six-year effort included assisting states in developing new English language proficiency standards, aligned ELP assessments, research-based instructional strategies to train teachers to instruct language development and literacy skills simultaneously, and provide communities and parents with effective education models that support high academic achievement among ELLs. The goal is to create a national education system that includes ELLs in state accountability systems for the first time in the history of the nation’s K-12 public schools.
Ms. Leos’s energetic approach to her work comes from her belief that “Each student that crosses the threshold of any one of America’s schools deserves the best education this country has to offer. This is every educator’s responsibility and every student’s civil right.” As the President of the Global Institute for Language and Literacy Development (GILD), she continues this vision, mission, and commitment by ensuring that the individuals who are the key to ELL’s academic success have all the information and instructional tools necessary to transform education for every ELL student.
Adam Smith
Adam is the Project Manager and Technical Director for the Texas History Awakens platform. He is a native North Texas entrepreneur, digital expert, and educator, who graduated from Embry Riddle University with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Studies. In 2007, he co-founded TeacherTube.com, an online education platform community that provides a safe, educationally-focused venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. Under Adam’s leadership, the publicly-traded company Salem Media Group acquired TeacherTube in September of 2017. . At the time of the acquisition, TeacherTube had over 2 million registered educators with over 12 million monthly unique views to the site.
After the acquisition, Adam continued his passion for technology and education by helping schools and start-ups to large corporations with online training, branding, content marketing, and social media management.