Michigan teachers weaving lessons on Jan. 6 uprising into history classes
Source: AP
Updated 4:38 PM EST, January 5, 2026
Ask any history teacher in Michigan how their lessons could be better and they will tell you that they need to incorporate more current events into the curriculum, East Kentwood High School history teacher Matt Vreisman insists.
State standards require social studies teachers to cover pre-Columbian history to the present, and incorporating modern historical events — such as the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection — is a challenge, adds Whitehall High School history teacher Brian Milliron.
Though Tuesday is the five-year anniversary of the event, Vriesman, Milliron and other teachers found a way to weave the insurrection into their advanced placement history classes months ago when they taught about the American Revolution, the establishment of the Constitution and the contentious presidential election in 1800.
John Adams, the nation’s second president and a Federalist, was the incumbent candidate but lost to Thomas Jefferson, the nation’s third president and the Democratic-Republican Party candidate. It was the nation’s first exchange of presidential power between rival political parties, and it was peaceful, and that established a precedent for a peaceful change of power every election since.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/john-adams-donald-trump-donald-trump-es-thomas-jefferson-michigan-350b7beb376ba3caaf744db007a422dd