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Summer institute on ancient Olympics returning to Monmouth College's campus

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, Ill. (08/12/2025) — "It went so well that we thought we'd give it another shot."

So said Monmouth College classics professor Bob Simmons of a two-week program that is returning to campus in the summer of 2026, thanks to a $175,000 K-12 Educators Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In 2024, Monmouth hosted a summer institute titled "The Ancient Olympics and Daily Life in Ancient Olympia: A Hands-On History," which drew more than two dozen educators from across the nation.

After the event concluded, Simmons said, "It was completely invigorating - nearly the ideal teaching circumstance. The students were engaged and excited, and they contributed to the process of learning. It was a mountain of work to organize, but I would absolutely do this again."

Thanks to another successful grant proposal, he will, along with his colleague in the endeavor, Louisiana middle school teacher Nathalie Roy, who was her state's Teacher of the Year in 2021.

"In our category, 'Institutes for K-12 Educators,' just seven grants were awarded," said Simmons. The only other Illinois schools that received an NEH grant from any of the categories for the upcoming year were Loyola University and the University of Illinois.

From July 6-18 next summer, 26 K-12 educators from around the nation and across a range of disciplines will learn hands-on approaches to teaching their students about the ancient Olympics and daily life activities in the ancient Mediterranean. Three more K-12 teachers will be full-time employees of the institute, and more than 10 college-level faculty and staff members, many of them from Monmouth, will contribute content and other support for the institute.

"The first institute went extraordinarily well, which is a big reason, I'm sure, why we got the opportunity again," said Simmons. "The participants were exceedingly complimentary of all aspects of it - the academic part of the program, the kindness, hospitality and capability of Monmouth's employees, the facilities, the food, the beauty of the campus, and the energy of the town."

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Classics professor Bob Simmons works with some of the educators who attended the first iteration of the institute at Monmouth College in the summer of 2024.

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