|
MC’s Indiana Heritage Program
for children
seeks volunteers, presenters
for May 5-7
NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – Manchester College’s
Koinonia Environmental and Retreat Center is gearing up for its second
Indiana Heritage Program – and volunteers and experiences are needed to
help bring Hoosier history to area children.
The May 5-7 Indiana history lesson is a spring
version of the fall 2003 pilot program that drew 800 fourth-graders and
teachers from schools throughout northeast Indiana to the 100-acre
Koinonia, just south of Pierceton, Ind. New this fall is a one-day
preview for eighth-graders, on May 7.
The workshops and hands-on experiences bring
history to life as students learn about significant people, places and
events in Indiana's history from the mid-1800s through present day.
Important to area teachers, the program is correlated to the Indiana
Academic Standards for Social Studies at the fourth-grade level.
Area historians, history buffs, folklore lovers and
others who would like to pitch in are invited to volunteer. In addition
to program presenters, Koinonia needs least 12 volunteers a day to
ensure the program runs smoothly. Displays and exhibitions also are
needed, especially those related to the Underground Railroad, the Civil
War, pioneer life, Native American heritage and the importance of
Indiana rivers.
Events for fourth-graders include lessons about
James Whitcomb Riley’s poetry, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era,
Sacagawea, prairie life (with a prairie schooner), tools, gardening and
games. Events for eighth-graders will teach about Lewis & Clark, World
War II veterans and the Underground Railroad. Inside are Indiana
Historical Society displays on Hoosier cartoonists and “Sounds of
Indiana.”
To participate in the Indiana History Program,
contact Sue Gnagy, assistant director of Koinonia, at 260-982-7311. Her
email is
segnagy@manchester.edu.
Funding for the Indiana Heritage Program comes from
The Dekko Foundation, which matched grants from Kosciusko County
Community Foundation, Laketon Lion’s Club and North Manchester Kiwanis.
Koinonia is located 12 miles north of Manchester
College and includes a 5-acre lake, woods, a two-story retreat building,
environmental laboratories, kitchen and overnight housing. |
