Press Release: National Park Service Awards Funding for Educational Programs for Students. Dover, Tennessee. Students in the Western Kentucky region can now experience "hands-on" Civil War history, thanks to the generous private and corporate donations, donated time and expertise from Calloway and Graves County teachers, grant monies from the Humanities-Tennessee, Inc. and the National Park Service. Traveling trunks and videos are part of this new plan to help students learn a little more about this important Civil War site.
Schoolchildren from Kentucky, Illinois, Tennessee and Missouri visit the battlefield yearly. Special funding from the NPS and private donations will allow the park staff and volunteers to develop grade-specific, interdisciplinary curriculum guides for teachers, a documentary video explaining the Battle at Fort Donelson and inspiring stories related to the battle, traveling trunks filled with reproduction Civil War uniforms, clothing, newspapers and diaries to help students re-create 19th century society. All resources created during this project will be distributed free-of-charge to schools.
To find out more about Fort Donelson National Battlefield or future educational projects, contact Deborah Austin or Susan Hawkins at (931) 232-5706
NPS - School Partnership Benefits Students and Battlefield.
Dover, Tennessee. Fort Donelson National Battlefield hosted a teacher workshop in July, 2002 at the historic Dover Hotel in Dover, TN. Teachers from Graves and Calloway Counties in Kentucky and Stewart County in Tennessee helped develop classroom educational materials to enhance the understanding of Civil War history.
This workshop was one aspect of a larger National Park Service initiative called Parks-As-Classrooms, which encourages school systems to use national parks as outdoor classrooms and fosters a relationship between teachers and NPS sites. Fort Donelson will provide traveling trunks, audiovisual materials and a curriculum-based teacher guide for Civil War students.
Fort Donelson National Battlefield, located in Dover, TN, preserves the remains of a Civil War fort, earthworks, surrender site and national cemetery. For more information, contact (931) 232-5706 or www.nps.gov/fodo
