"What is that sound?" asks an eager 4th grade student while filing into the historic courthouse.  It is the sound of the clock tower chiming 9 AM, and the start of another exciting morning for students, teachers, parents, and CCHA volunteers.

"You have no idea how much we appreciate the educational quality of these field trips to the Chatham Historical Museum and the welcoming atmosphere provided by CCHA's volunteers for our students," remarked Daphne Terry, K-5 Instructional Program Facilitator and CCHA's school system liaison.

Begun in 2013 as a collaboration between CCHA volunteers and Chatham County Schools, the field trip experience is based on dovetailing the museum's content with North Carolina’s Essential Standards for Social Studies and Depth-Of Knowledge Guidelines. Students rotate in small groups through four activity areas: the museum room, the artifacts room, the grand foyer, and the courtroom. All then assemble in the courtroom for the finale, a visit with a costumed reenactor and presentation of honorary CCHA membership certificates.

Each year, the reach of the field trips has expanded to include more schools and now serves over 800 Chatham 4th graders. The generous support of business and community donors allows the CCHA field trip volunteers to offer these field trips at no cost to students.

Put together during the summer months, the field trip schedule sets the dates for the participating school groups for the course of the upcoming school year. Field trip volunteer training occurs in August, but new volunteers are welcome to schedule a time to come observe and learn more about becoming a field trip volunteer. For more information, contact us at FourthGrade@chathamhistory.org.

Field Trip Resources

• Field Trip Booklet
• Goldilocks Court Case Introduction
• Goldilocks Trial Read Roles
• Civil War Soldier's Letter