The Dirksen Congressional Center in Pekin, Illinois, is currently seeking lesson plans to publish and expand the online resource library of its CongressLink (at http://www.congresslink.org/), a free educational web site for teachers and students of government, civics, and history. The center is especially interested currently in seeking lesson plans educating students about the electoral college.

CongressLink focuses on serving teachers and students in schools. It employs innovative, technology-based approaches to instruction and cutting-edge services for teachers that will enhance civic education in the schools. CongressLink resources are designed in cooperation with teachers of American government, American history, and civics to address current trends toward student-centered, research-based, authentic curricula CongressLink serves as a laboratory within which to explore the new information technologies as tools for learning. CongressLink is committed to exploring new ways to learn about Congress, how it works, its constitutional underpinnings, its leaders and members, and the public policies it produces. Over the past four years it has been in existence, the site has undergone many changes and will continue to do so to meet the needs of its users. CongressLink has a growing library of lesson plans and other resources to encourage a better understanding of Congress. The site also gives teachers the opportunity to communicate with their colleagues and with subject matter experts. And if users can't find what they are looking for on CongressLink, the site has an annotated list of over 75 related web sites to help them.

The Dirksen Center would be willing to pay between $100 and $350 for an approved lesson plan using CongressLink resources and features. A few guidelines will need to be followed and resources and features of CongressLink must be incorporated in the lesson plan in some way. Further details about the program can be obtained from the center's web site at http://www.pekin.net/.