We're All About Learning

I know I’m preaching to the choir on this. I don’t have to tell Trailheads readers that the sites on the Pennsylvania Trails of History provide rich learning opportunities and experiences year-round. Visitors to our sites enjoy tours (on their own or with a guide), programs, workshops, festivals, etc. while spending time with family and friends (or making new friends). But this week I’d like to focus on several opportunities for educational development that may be of interest.

The past couple of posts (here and here) have included the Historical Marker Scavenger Hunt developed by PHMC staff for use at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. For those of you who didn’t make it to Harrisburg for the show (it closes tomorrow, so there’s still time), the scavenger hunt booklet is now available online, along with photos of the actual markers. The booklet was developed to engage children and their families in exploring Pennsylvania’s agricultural and food industry heritage. (It is related to PHMC’s 2012 theme, “The Land of Penn and Plenty: Bringing History to the Table,” which will roll out slowly over the next couple of months with the big kickoff scheduled for March.) It’s a fun way to learn some history, not to mention Pennsylvania geography, if you also locate the markers on a map.

Although the deadline is only one week away (January 20), it isn’t too late for undergraduate and graduate students to apply for the Keystone Summer Internship Program. Applicants for these unpaid internships can designate their preferred locations (field sites, the State Museum, or the State Archives) and indicate their areas of interest. Interviews will be scheduled in late winter and early spring with selections made in March. Interns are expected to be in place from May through August, with specific schedules worked out with their intern mentor. To read about the experiences of interns in previous years, go here, here, or here.

The Office of Commonwealth Libraries and PHMC have announced the new Pennypacker Fellowship Program for 2012-13. For those of you who remember PHMC’s Scholars in Residence program, this will function very similarly. The fellowship program will support research on Pennsylvania history that makes significant (though not necessarily exclusive) use of the State Library or a PHMC facility. The application deadline is January 30; notification of awards will be in March. Residencies (up to 8 weeks long with a stipend of $400 per week) can begin May 1, 2012, and must be completed by April 30, 2013. Up to six residencies will be awarded each program year. For more information, go here.