LAKE HAVASU CITY – The Knowledge Matters Campaign is excited to announce that on March 11–12, it will bring its School Tour to Arizona’s Lake Havasu Unified School District #1, which has prioritized history instruction by implementing a high-quality, knowledge-rich social studies curriculum in its elementary and middle schools.
This is the second destination on the Knowledge Matters School Tour to a district using high-quality social studies and English language arts (ELA) curricula side-by-side. And, it is the 51st visit of the Knowledge Matters School Tour, which seeks to “find the good and praise” educators, schools, and communities that have embraced exemplary knowledge-building curricula and instruction.
“History has been on the sidelines in elementary school for far too long—and we have seen the impact on literacy rates and civics knowledge for middle and high school students,” said Barbara Davidson, Executive Director of the Knowledge Matters Campaign. “High-quality, knowledge-rich history curriculum and instruction in the early grades is not only possible—it is essential. Districts like Lake Havasu inspire us and help us better understand how we can carve out time for this important work.”
The Campaign will observe instruction and interview students, teachers, and administrators at Nautilus Elementary School, which has earned consistent “A” grades from the Arizona Board of Education since 2022–23. Five years ago, the district implemented the Core Knowledge History and Geography (CKHG) curriculum in social studies and the Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts curriculum in ELA.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Knowledge Matters Campaign,” said Christie Olsen, Director of Student Achievement at Lake Havasu Unified. “If we as a school, district, or nation want our children to become thoughtful adults, we need to provide them with something meaningful to think about. History is humanity’s story, and studying history gives even our youngest learners the chance to grapple with big ideas.”
