By Dominick Miller
Mackinac State Historic Parks
Every year, Mackinac State Historic Parks sends historic interpreters into classrooms throughout the state to share the diverse historic and natural history of the straits area with the students of Michigan. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in-classroom outreach has been suspended. However, Mackinac State Historic Parks is excited to debut its lineup of six virtual offerings, headlined by the award-winning Historic Mackinac on Tour program.
“Our new online education programs allow us to reach students across the state, regardless of whether they are learning in the classroom or at home,” said Mackinac State Historic Parks’ Chief Curator Craig Wilson. “Additionally, our new programs significantly broaden the scope of MSHP’s educational offerings, allowing us to address a variety of curriculum standards across multiple grade levels.”
All programs will be offered via Zoom, allowing for students to interact with the historic interpreters. Programs cost $20 each and can be booked fully online. Programs available for the 2020-21 school year include: Historic Mackinac on Tour, Slavery in Colonial Michigan, Women at Michilimackinac, The Revolutionary War in Michigan, Weathering the Climate: Science and Gardening at Michilimackinac, and Challenges to Expansion: The War of 1812 in Michigan. Full descriptions and availability of each program can be found at mackinacparks.com/education.
Mackinac State Historic Parks’ education outreach programs are made possible, in part, by the generosity of Mackinac Associates, the friends group to MSHP.
More information about education programs can be found online at mackinacparks.com/education, by email at outreach@mackinacparks.com, or by calling 231-436-4100.
Mackinac State Historic Parks, a family of living history museums and parks in northern Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac, is an agency within the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Its sites—which are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums—include Fort Mackinac, Biddle House, Historic Downtown Mackinac, The Richard and Jane Manoogian Mackinac Art Museum, and Mackinac Island State Park on Mackinac Island, and Colonial Michilimackinac, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park, and Michilimackinac State Park in Mackinaw City. Mackinac State Historic Parks is governed by the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, established in 1895 to protect, preserve and present the parks’ rich historic and natural resources for the education and recreation of future generations. Visitor information is available at (231) 436-4100 or online
