In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson established Hispanic Heritage Week to honor and celebrate the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. Twenty years later, President Ronald Reagan expanded it to a month, from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Wreaths Across America’s (WAA) “Teach” program Curriculum Developer Cindy Tatum is sharing information on a new, free-to-download educator lesson plans for grades K-12 in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

This curriculum is designed to teach the next generation about the value of their freedom. Retired educator and Gold Star Mother Cindy Tatum encourages all to “Celebre el Mes de la Herencia Hispana” (Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month) by sharing these free lesson plans with teachers, homeschoolers, and students.

“Being a part of helping Wreaths Across America teach younger generations about the value of freedom and the importance of honoring those who sacrificed so much to protect those freedoms is something I know I am supposed to be doing, and I know my son Daniel would want me to do,” said Tatum, a Gold Star Mother who lost her son on Christmas Eve while he was serving in the U.S.M.C. “I want America’s youth to learn that as citizens of this world, there are things they can do to lift the human spirit, things that are easy, free, and that they can do every day.”

Since the introduction of the WAA “Teach” program, it has become popular with professional educators and homeschoolers, resulting in thousands of downloads of these lesson plans, which are consistently updated to celebrate and embrace American holidays and other important events.

The lesson plans for the “Teach” program consist of stories of courage focusing on character development and service projects for young people of all ages. This program is free to download from www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/teach.

This service-based curriculum is designed to share educational materials from philanthropic and patriotic organizations like The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and IKEducation at the Eisenhower Foundation.

“As a volunteer, founding family member, and mother of six kids and grandmother to nine, whose lives have been greatly impacted by the opportunity to meet so many in the military community, I know that the teaching aspect of our mission is the most important,” said Karen Worcester, Executive Director, Wreaths Across America. “Finally, this long-standing desire to develop a more robust education program took a giant step forward with the launch of this expanded program. I am thrilled that so many educators are already seeing value in the materials and hope that more will be able to utilize these important lesson plans in their classrooms.”

Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organization’s mission – Remember, Honor, Teach – is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington and thousands of veterans’ cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond.

For more information or to sponsor a wreath, visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.