05/11/2007

Curtis Students to Experience Colonial Life at Mackinaw City Fort

Mackinaw City, Mich. – When they’re asked to haul water from nearby Lake Michigan, students from Curtis Elementary School will begin to experience firsthand what colonial life was like during History Night at Colonial Michilimackinac on May 31-June 1. The History Night program is offered by Mackinac State Historic Parks (MSHP) from May 8-June 1 for Michigan’s 4^th through 6^th graders.

After they enter the water gate of the reconstructed 1715 fort, the students will be divided into teams and take part in various historic activities such as marching as conscripts in the British army, making candles, cooking over an open fire, planting seeds in the King’s Garden, and falling asleep on straw-tick mattresses.

According to MSHP Curator of Education Katie Cederholm, this overnight experience provides a unique educational opportunity for students and teachers. “This is hands-on history,” she explained. “For many students, this real experience makes an impact they can’t get from reading and listening alone. They have exclusive use of the fort overnight. They walk the same ground that 18^th-century soldiers, fur traders, and villagers walked. That makes it memorable.”

History Night is one of two after-hours educational programs offered by MSHP. During the other program, Military Muster at Fort Mackinac, students spend three hours in the evening at MSHP’s 19^th-century fort on Mackinac Island: learning how to march in formation, walk a sentry beat, and even sit for a lesson in the old fort schoolhouse.

Mackinac State Historic Parks is a family of living history museums and nature parks in northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac and is an agency within the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Its sites—which are accredited by the American Association of Museums—include Fort Mackinac, Mackinac Island State Park, and Historic Downtown on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Historic Mill Creek, and Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse in Mackinaw City. Visitor information is available at 231-436-4100 or on the web at www.MackinacParks.com.