Learning from 8-3

Secondary and elementary students

Secondary students, their teachers, and fort staff work together to provide this award-winning program. Each secondary student, or group of students, selects a topic of 18th century life from our list and learns about it. We supply some reference materials, an outline to follow, and an in-school visit to help get things going. Good research skills can be developed as students progress. Since much information is now available on the Internet and World Wide Web, we encourage students to see what primary materials they can find in online repositories such as the National Archives and the Library of Congress. Students can also use the reference library at the Fort. After each student has become an "expert" on the topic, its time to share their expertise. There's a saying that "nobody learns it like the teacher," and students are invited to be "docent for a day" at the Fort, that is, to "teach" elementary students (typically, third graders}. A limited number of costumes are available, for a rental fee, for student-docents who want to dress the part.