Education Outreach Brings History to Life

Presenting a program at the Gros Cap School near St. Ignace.

Our historic sites may be closed for another two months, but right now small teams of interpreters are traveling around the state to bring Mackinac’s history to life in elementary school classrooms. Since its creation, the Historic Mackinac on Tour program has visited schools and presented to nearly 250,000 students.

The program focuses on Michigan’s 18^th century history, with a special emphasis on Michilimackinac. Using a variety of props and hands-on activities, interpreters engage students in an hour-long program discussing how northern Michigan’s unique geography and natural resources made it an ideal place to meet, exchange ideas, and trade. Within the programs, different activities and guided discussions focus on the Anishnaabek, French, and British, and how these cultural groups viewed and interacted with one another through the complexities of the Great Lakes fur trade. The program is designed to meet a variety of third grade social studies curriculum requirements, but we’ve found that both younger and older kids enjoy it, too. Audiences aren’t limited to students either- in the past, our teams have given presentations at libraries, for Scout groups, and at senior centers.

This year, our teams will travel around the state to present the Historic Mackinac on Tour program. In addition to many local schools in northern Michigan, our interpreters will also be visiting students in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Farmington, Cadillac, the Marquette area, and Sault Ste. Marie. Although the program stops running in late April so that we can focus on opening our museum sites for the summer, Historic Mackinac on Tour will be available again in mid-October 2020. Reservations are accepted at any time. If you would like more information about the program, or would like to schedule a presentation, please visit our website or email outreach@mackinacparks.com.