Flags, flutes and future citizens: Students and teachers kick off U.S. history program in Philly

Piercing the early morning quiet on Monday with the whistle of flutes and the rhythm of drums a group of educators and students from across the nation were led by three colonial-style musicians in a march through the Old City streets The students and educators waved flags from their home states and territories as they embarked on a five-day educational operation The trio of performers from the Philly Fife and Drum Company started the activity off right playing a colonial tune during the march Brought to the group by National History Day and Carpenters Hall the project connects high school student-teacher pairs to discuss and immerse themselves in U S history After the inaugural year of the plan in which included pairs from states that comprised the original colonies s project featured pairs from U S states and territories including Guam North Carolina and of program Pennsylvania Texas was the only area represented twice among the pairs Led by the Philly Fife and Drum Company the group of roughly teachers students and organizers started their march at a m making their way from their hotel to Carpenters Hall during the Young People s Continental Congress Davis Cuffe Billy Penn This campaign is named the Young People s Continental Congress after the First Continental Congress a group formed in to oppose British rule It was established to teach kids empathy stated Kathy Gorn executive director of National History Day and initiative organizer They learn about other people s struggles which helps them understand different perspectives I think we re building more thoughtful and informed citizens for the future Gorn explained When you turn on the news you hear a lot about what s wrong but just spend a insufficient minutes with these kids and there s hope The trip was fully funded by the Philadelphia City Council s Philadelphia Cultural Fund the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial and smaller donors Throughout the week students and teachers will visit historic sites and museums as they go beyond the textbook in connecting with America s founding years First on the itinerary was Carpenters Hall the endpoint of the group s march from their hotel and the meeting place for the First Continental Congress Once inside the building Carpenters Hall Executive Director Michael Norris delivered the campaign s opening remarks and provided certain historical information on the building until he was interrupted by Carpenters Hall regular Patrick Henry The reenactor clad in colonial attire and wig gave an animated recount of specific past Carpenters Hall happenings and earned a smile from Pennsylvania learner Sophia Hyatt For Hyatt those immersive experiences were what piqued her interest in attending When you just read a textbook it gets so boring because you don t have anything to connect it to Hyatt commented So just being able to visually see everything it s almost like you can see them sitting there arguing and debating It really deepens your understanding During the Young People s Continental Congress march students and teachers waved flags of their home states Left to right Christy Marrella and Aidan Smeglin of New Jersey Davis Cuffe Billy Penn Hyatt s tutor Jennifer Ameigh of Philadelphia s Sayre High School stated the experience allows her to further her own understanding and connect with other teachers on the trip While Monday was the first day of the trip Ameigh revealed that she and the other teachers have already connected and discussed teaching strategies content and shared perspectives The same goes for Hayle Russell a trainer from Washington D C who is rooming with Morgan Keena a professor from North Dakota during the trip Whenever you re in your classroom it s like a little bubble once that bubble gets popped you see all these other different perspectives Russell announced Their insight is even more valuable because they come from that different background Student-teacher pairs such as Hyatt and Ameigh were selected for the trip based on their applications submitted through the National History Day website which required resumes and statements of interest In the future the effort has no tentative plans to expand preserving the intimacy of the experience and subsequent discussions between attendees according to Norris With donor advocacy still pending organizers hope to bring the initiative back in the summer of just in time for a central role in celebrating America s th anniversary National History Day is a nonprofit educational organization that aims to enhance the teaching and learning of history internationally through curriculum tools and programs The post Flags flutes and future citizens Students and teachers kick off U S history campaign in Philly appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY