Harford County Middle Schoolers Heading To PA For Field Trip To Walk On Battlefields

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — A group of Southampton Middle School eighth graders will head to Gettysburg, Penn., thanks to a grant from the American Battlefield Trust’s History Field Trip Grant Program. This trip will provide students with a hands-on history learning opportunity. Grants are awarded based on a competitive national application process.

"When we travel to Gettysburg, the students gain new perspectives about the historic importance of the battle, war, topography of the land, impact on the civilians and about preservation efforts of the Hallowed Ground,” said teacher Bob Rinehart. “They can walk the same land as many historic figures. These are figures they have read about in books or researched online, figures such as George Meade, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, James Longstreet, Tille Pierce, and so on."

The American Battlefield Trust is the largest battlefield land preservation organization in the country, having saved more than 57,000 acres of hallowed ground across 25 states. Through visiting preserved battlefields and walking in the footsteps of the citizen soldiers who fought there, the trust aims to provide a foundation of good citizenship for the leaders of tomorrow.

Every year, the trust receives applications from classrooms across the country to participate in the History Field Trip Grant Program, which offers funding and assistance to kindergarten through 12th grade teachers planning field trips to Civil War, War of 1812 or Revolutionary War battlefields and related historic sites. During the 2018-2019 school year, more than 7,500 students from 24 states took part.

“These kids get a chance to go to where history was made, where our country was created and defined,” said Trust President David Duncan. “Battlefields are outdoor classrooms that will teach future Americans about our democratic republic.”