Passport to History Program: A Detailed Overview

The Passport to History is an interactive, educational program developed for students in the fourth or fifth grades. At a time when students are already learning about local Pennsylvania history in the classrooms, teachers distribute a history passport designed to resemble a U.S. travel passport and encourage students to acquire five or more historical stamps from cooperating historical sites. To help them plan their trips, students also receive a comprehensive Directory of Participating Sites and a Historic Map of Delaware County to guide them. During this time, their passports serve as free admission tickets to the historic sites. Students receive their passports in October at the beginning of the school year so that they can receive stamps when visiting sites on regularly scheduled field trips or when special speakers come into the classroom. They will also receive a stamp if the Trunk of History rolls into their classroom to teach them about colonial clothing. In May, students take the passports home to travel to historic sites over the summer with their families. Students that successfully receive five or more stamps in their Passport to History passports by September 15th of the next school year, receive a framed award certificate, a unique lapel pin, and a t-shirt from representatives of the Delaware County Historical Society at a special ceremony at their schools in front of their classmates, friends, and parents. As part of the Passport to History program, teachers are consulted at an orientation meeting in the beginning of the school year where they are provided with many resources; available field trips, some of which are fully sponsored; three issues of the Program newsletter, "The History Ticket", are distributed across the school year; men and women who experienced WWII volunteer to speak to students across the year; teachers are given guidance in planning multi-site historic field trips and some funding for buses is made available; and in May, a packet of resources goes home describing the summer events with the student in addition to the passport. Teachers and parents have responded positively to the Program's ability to integrate into the school curriculum, yet provide the flexibility for families to participate. Taking It Home In May, students are encouraged to take it home! Each student is sent home with a packet of information containing the May newsletter full of event and summer camp information from the local historic sites, a comprehensive Directory of Participating Historic Sites, and an Historic Map of Delaware County. In complement to this, the Family Historic Experience option of the Passport to History program allows siblings of the enrolled student to receive their own passports. In return, families are asked to make a creative project that expresses what the family has learned over the summer. This project is then displayed at the award ceremony. At school, students drop their passports into the envelope and take it all home for a summer filled with learning and excitement! The Delaware County Historical Society program has proven itself to be a leader among historical societies in providing educational opportunities for students and families. By leveraging its extensive relationships with local historical organizations and sites in Delaware County and collaborating with educators to Make History Come Alive within the history curriculum, the Delaware County Historical Society has unlocked a unique and powerful program!

Copyright Delaware County Historical Society, 2006-2008