This is the best summary I could come up with:

But in recent weeks the table was buzzing about one thing: the mass shooting in Lewiston that left 18 people dead and 13 wounded.

With tragedies dominating the news cycle for the past few weeks, teachers are looking for ways to help their students make sense of the world around them.

The unit helps prepare Hedgepeth's high schoolers to approach conflicts like the recent war in Gaza.

Hedgepeth is the president of the National Council for the Social Studies, and says that how teachers talk about something like the war in Gaza can depend on what state they teach in.

Things like critical race theory, LGBTQ rights, and gun violence are often hot button issues.

He uses topics already in the material, like the history of the Ottoman and Byzantine empires, for instance, to give context for the region.

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