Students Experience History Firsthand
By Josh Williams, Middle School Vice Principal
As part of continuing education and enrichment, the seventh graders recently visited the Texas Civil War Museum and the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth.
The Texas Civil War Museum is the largest Civil War Museum west of the Mississippi River. It is a privately owned collection of exhibits featuring a blood-stained New Testament, medical supplies, bullet-tattered uniforms, Victorian dresses, and weapons of all shapes and sizes.
Included in the tour was a video displaying Texas’ role in the Civil War and a hands-on exercise where students were challenged in an artifact-discovering scavenger hunt.
We also visited the Amon Carter Museum where we saw works of American art spanning the last three centuries. The photography collection alone contains more than 200,000 items available for display. Students were put into small groups led by educational guides who encouraged discussion as part of the learning tour.
The trip was a huge success, and the seventh graders expressed excitement and enjoyment throughout the day. The experience can be summed up in a conversation between two museum guides overheard shortly after the students exited.
“Those students were so well behaved! I wish I could send my children to that school!” said one guide.
“You would drive all the way to Argyle?” asked the other guide.
She answered, “If my children behaved like that, I surely would!”