Young Henrico Historians & Explorers

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2012

Young Henrico Historians & Explorers Henrico County, VA Population: 280,581 Henrico County educators and local historians developed a collection of information that includes the geography, history, economy, government, and history of the Henrico County school system to create Young Henrico Historians and Explorers of Henrico County School students. This effort was established to give Henrico County students a history of their local community. This 46-page collection of information contains topics that fifth grade students could grasp and apply to the real world environment. Maps, graphics, photographs, and student activities are also included. This collection of information was thoroughly reviewed by the participating historical organizations and several Henrico County government staff members. During the first nine weeks of each school year, the 3,600+ fifth grade students are provided with the collection packaged as a student booklet and are assigned engaging activities to teach them about the rich history of Henrico County. An additional component to the study of Henrico County is the Henrico Explorers passport program that encourages students to take “weekend family field trips” to selected historic sites. Historic sites, managed by the Henrico County Division of Recreation and Parks, are selected based on a promotional flier created that indicates the locations and brief history of each site. To promote the visitation and tourism aspect of these sites, Henrico Explorers passports, highlighting selected historical sites, with no or nominal fees, are distributed to fifth grade students. Once a student and his/her family visit a historic site, the passport is rubberstamped at the site. After visiting eight sites and receiving eight stamps in their passports, the students receive Henrico Explorer T-shirts to wear with pride. After the nine weeks of studying Henrico County history, the fifth grade students are expected to create product-based student assessments (promotional flier, TV commercial, PowerPoint, billboard, etc.) to showcase an aspect of Henrico County. Their projects have been shared with the school, business community, and/or historical organizations. Since the implementation, this unique approach has touched the lives of over 6,400 fifth grade students and their families. It has given the students and their family members a historical overview of Henrico County, as well as encouraged them to further enhance their knowledge of the county. It also created partnerships with historic sites and promoted tourism within Henrico County that supported the local economy.