sixth grade class visits 7 historic sites

This spring, 30 sixth graders from Fertile-Beltrami School saw first-hand that history is real. After studying Minnesota history all year, these students got to see seven of the actual places where these stories happened. On their school's annual trip, this year's students filled out their "Ticket to History" game card along the way.

Every site they visited had a direct connection to what they'd learned. "We'd talked about Alexander Ramsey several times throughout the year," says their teacher Mary Kiefert, "so it meant something to the students when they got to tour Ramsey's home."

Stations at Historic Fort Snelling illuminated the Civil War, the Oliver H. Kelley Farm showed what life was like on an 1860's farm, and the Mill City Museum taught specifics about early Minneapolis industries that they hadn't been able to cover in class.

The students raised money for the trip in the fall, so they'd been looking forward to it all year. Now that summer's here, get your own Ticket to History and bring your own stories to life.

otter tail hist. society seeks ed coordinator

Otter Tail County Historical Society seeks a permanent education coordinator, 30 hours/week with benefits. Will develop and coordinate outreach and tour activities. Bachelor's degree,
background in education helpful but not required. Apply by email or mail to Chris Scheulke, OTCHS, 1110 Lincoln Ave. W, Fergus Falls, MN 56537. Include cover letter and resume. Search closes June 19.

update: Next year's teacher workshops

There's good news and bad news about next year's History Workshops for teachers. Unfortunately, our professional development appropriation was eliminated from the state legislature's K-12 budget. Unlike the past two years, we will not be able to offer our scholarship-based Minnesota History Academies during the 07-08 school year.

Because of its popularity, we will still host a Northern Lights Teacher Academy next spring, though without the reimbursements for subs and travel.

Onto the good news: Teachers will have a fantastic schedule of workshops to choose from next year. Be on the lookout for the following series of workshops:

• Changing Faces of Minnesota
• Meet The Authors
• Minnesota History Is U.S. History
• Sharpening Your Skills
• Creative Ways to Apply Northern Lights
• Workshops-to-Go

Have a fantastic summer, and we'll see you next year!

Back to top.