This article was written by Dr. Bert Bower, Curriculum Developer for the SPICE Latin American Project and later Founder and CEO of Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, the nation’s preeminent provider of K–12 experiential social studies materials. This is the fifth of several articles—focusing on the 50-year history of SPICE—that will be posted this year. In its early years, SPICE comprised several separate area-focused projects.

Congratulations to SPICE on 50 years of providing the nation’s schools with the most global-minded, engaging curriculum ever created. I had the pleasure of working as a curriculum developer with SPICE for 12 years, from 1976 to 1998. It was for me, as it has been for countless other educators, a truly life-changing experience.

At age 19, I transferred to Stanford and soon found myself attached to the Latin America Project of SPICE. Dr. David Grossman, Founding Director of SPICE, encouraged me to create a curriculum unit centered around a village in highland Guatemala where I had served as an Amigos de las Americas volunteer. David guided me in creating my first piece of curriculum and then encouraged me to present it at the California Council for the Social Studies. It proved to be wildly popular.

I soon discovered that teachers were hungry for materials that engaged their students and challenged them to take a global perspective. That was exactly what SPICE offered. Working with Dr. Grossman and the SPICE staff, I learned to create curriculum unlike anything offered by other companies or organizations. SPICE staff created lessons that taught students to write in Chinese, to simulate entering and interacting with others in a global village, and to travel down the Nile River. I was amazed at how lessons like these delighted and challenged students.

My years with SPICE taught me to embrace innovation in everything I developed. Imagine teaching the conquest of Mexico from multiple perspectives. Or using in-person interviews with villagers in a small Mexican town to drive home a heartfelt lesson on the hows and whys of out-migration. Or teaching about Latin America by analyzing and “stepping into” modern art from throughout the region. These lessons were as impactful in the classroom as they were exciting to teach.

Really, the most important thing I learned from Dr. Grossman and the SPICE staff was a true joie de vivre when it came to curriculum development. We had so much fun creating curriculum. Staff meetings were always insightful and filled with laughter. Close friendships were the norm at our workshops. Deep learning and global enlightenment were the celebrated outcomes of our work.

This sense of learning, wonderment, and lively esprit de corps has stayed with me ever since I left SPICE—and, as a result, has touched tens of thousands of others. Happy Birthday, SPICE!

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