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| > About Windsor > Recreation > Museums & Galleries > Windsor Historical Society > Hartford Schools and Windsor Historical Society Join Hands |
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Hartford Schools and Windsor Historical Society Join Hands
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The Hartford Public Schools and the Windsor Historical Society are involved in a unique project that is designed to bring history alive for 5th grade students in the Hartford Public School System. During March and April, approximately 600 students will visit the Windsor Historical Society to learn about life in colonial times from Historical Society docents.
This cooperative project between the inner city and the suburbs is being made possible through a “Teaching American History” grant from the U.S. Department of Education for school years 2004-2007 in the amount of $926,250.00. Hartford was one of only 122 districts in the nation to receive such a grant. The grant supports programs to raise student achievement in American History by improving their teachers’ knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of American history which they pass on to their students in exciting and memorable ways.
The 5th grade curriculum was developed using Windsor’s historic landscape and the resources of the Windsor Historical Society’s museum and library. Each 5th grade class gets to spend 2 hours at the Historical Society roaming the fields where the Native Americans planted their crops and settlers grazed their sheep. They learn about how Native Americans and English settlers of the 17th century used the rich natural resources of the area, the many uses of farm animals such as cows and sheep, and they experience some of the typical workday activities of their colonial counterparts. Students try on reproduction clothing from colonial times, card wool, decipher old documents, and try their hand at colonial games. Finally they visit the 1758 John and Sarah Strong House to see what family life was like.
This has been a brand new venture for the Windsor Historical Society and the Hartford school system. Christine Ermenc, Executive Director of the Windsor Historical Society says, “There are so many wonderful ways to experience history in Windsor. We at Windsor Historical Society are honored to have been chosen by the Hartford Schools to help students connect with this area’s rich past and feel more grounded here.”
Contact: Christine Ermenc
860-688-3813
cermenc@windsorhistoricalsociety.org
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