Artifact Lab

Check out our Primary Source Seminar artifact lab in action.  Humanities Institute students from West Orange High School learn about archival preservation. Here they examine laid paper, iron gall ink, watermarks, and eighteenth century script.

Here a student studies a cannon ball. It weights close to ten pounds and is the size of a softball.

The Ultimate Teaching Tool

For the last two weeks, I conducted two sets of two day teacher immersion workshops at Morristown National Historic Park (MNHP) and the Jacobus Vanderveer House (JVH). My biggest take-away so far from these sessions with teachers is that there is no limit to the use of our national parks and historic locations for our schools and students. The teachers on these workshops developed lesson summaries on topics as diverse as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work at MNHP during the Great Depression, the nutritional and herbal uses of the colonial era garden to enhance food and life and lesson ideas probing the perspectives of Loyalists, Patriots, children, slaves, Native Americans and women during the Revolutionary War time period.  Other teachers used the historic, cultural and recreational resources at MNHP and the JVH to create lessons on invasive plant species, tree canopy coverage and kindergarten level lessons on place over time and wants and needs as they related to the children of the Vanderveer and Ford families.   My personal favorite part of these workshops was leading teachers on the process of “sit-spotting” in nature. This practice was done by Native American groups as a form of meditation and nature observation. We connected sit-spotting to everything our ancestors and elders learned about their world. For example, at MNHP and the JVH, nature awareness and observation utilized by inhabitants of these areas at different times led to very simple yet powerful outcomes. Their survival depended upon being nature-aware. Observation gave our ancestors the knowledge of the best direction to build the front of one’s home (south facing to gain the most Sun), the simple concept of selecting the best geographic areas for winter encampments, what herbs to use for medicinal purposes, the usage of plants to make linens, the best woods to use to make fires, build cabins and craft boats and so much more. More importantly, sit-spotting allows teachers and students the time and space to imagine what it was like to be that historic figure on that property during a specific moment in time.   For me, that simple concept of experiential, nature and place-based education is probably the most powerful teaching tool we as educators still have in our bag of  tools.

--Chris Bickel

Nature-Based Learning and Immersive History

The first sessions of workshops at the Morristown and Vanderveer sites were a success. Chris and his teaching colleagues had a lot of ground to cover, both literally (they did some hiking) and in terms of potential teaching materials. 

This week, Chris shares with us his vision for this TRT collaboration.

As an educator, principal and supervisor for over 18 years, I have always been fascinated not with the content of history, but with the varied and nuanced connections between history and other disciplines. I am drawn to the big picture study of historical events and how geography, economy, local and international politics, culture and  man's relationship and learning from nature all intertwine to form what we know as “history.”  As such, my goals of creating a Teacher Immersion experience at Morristown National Historic Park and the Jacobus Vanderveer House are directed at immersing teachers in the resources themselves while helping them make "big picture" connections between the park resource, their grade level and content area. My goal is to empower every teacher, K-12, realize they can use the cultural, historical and recreational resources of our parks and historic sites to create lessons or guide field trips utilizing these amazing resources. Additionally, as a nature based coach in training, I love the learning that arises when students and/or teachers are in the outdoors. In my workshop, I stress the habit of "sit-spotting" to help teachers reconnect with the history of our past. Sit Spotting is the act of sitting and observing in nature for at least 20 minutes per day every day.  I like to introduce teachers to this practice because so much of what our elders and ancestors of the past were able to do was possible by simply observing nature.  The concept and location of a "winter encampment" were made possible by observation.  The usage of wood for flooring and building, keeping windows on the south facing side, growing herbs for seasoning and medicinal purposes, the weaving of textiles from plants and the utilization of winter ice for summer storage and more were all made possible by the simple act of observation.  If teachers can walk away with the power the simple practice of quiet and mindful natural observation has had on history, then I will be really happy!

Thanks for sharing this insightful perspective, Chris!

TRT Project in Full Swing

Morristown NHP would like to welcome our 2015 Teacher-Ranger-Teacher (TRT), Chris Bickel.

The TRT program is a Park Service professional development project, coordinated through the University of Colorado, Denver. Each year, eligible parks may apply to participate in this national initiative. We are very excited to be working with Livingston's own, Chris Bickel.

Focusing on K-12 education, Bickel works as Livingston Public Schools Social Studies Supervisor. We have had the pleasure of collaborating with Chris in years past and are eager to learn a lot from this partnership.

The 2015 TRT project is outward looking. We hope to reach Park Centennial and community collaboration goals by partnering with the Jacobus Vanderveer House and Museum. For Bickel's part, he will to lead several teacher prototyping workshops and develop toolkit materials for both sites. Chris is also completing an extensive online course at UCD and samples of his work will be made available via the NPS TRT portal. He is working hard to help Livingston teachers #findTHEIRpark!

Thanks, Chris!

Stay tuned for more TRT updates this summer.

A Park for Every Classroom Immersion Workshop

We would like to extend a special thanks to the educators, park staff, and community partners who helped pilot the Park for Every Classroom (PEC) workshop model here at Morristown. Thank you for two days of intensive Park resource exploration, scholarly discussion, and lesson development.

We hope to see you and your students soon!

Learn more about this project HERE.

Exploring Place: A Park for Every Classroom @Morristown

Morristown has some exciting educational projects underway! We were selected as one of eight parks in the Northeast region to pilot A Park for Every Classroom (PEC).

The goal of PEC is to develop a model for teacher professional development that engages teachers in immersion experiences that lead to unique place-based, teacher-created programming. Teachers who participate in PEC develop curricula that foster student understanding of and appreciation for the public lands and cultural heritage institutions in their communities. The teacher-developed curricula integrate hands-on natural and cultural explorations that address concepts in history, ecology, sense of place, stewardship, and civics.  At the heart of the PEC program is the belief that students who are immersed in the interdisciplinary study of "place" are more eager to learn and be involved in the stewardship of their communities, local heritage, and public lands.

We are enthusiastic that specialized, teacher-led programming really resonates with students, and in our quest to continue to provide relevant and meaningful park experiences, we have partnered with Newark Public School teachers and Rutgers University Newark instructors. We aim to expand the reach of park resources and provide a space for teachers to utilize those resources as an extension of their classrooms.

For this pilot year (2011-2012), we have partnered with Ms. Elizabeth Aaron, Outreach Coordinator for Public Education in the Department of History and for the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, at Rutgers University Newark.  Ms. Aaron has 15 years of classroom experience and teaches education courses at Rutgers in addition to her other duties.  The park coordinator for this project is Sarah Minegar, archives technician and museum educator at Morristown NHP. Together the two are developing an educators’ toolkit and intensive workshop series for teachers.  Ultimately, the idea is to bring Newark Public School students to Morristown to participate in resource rich immersive experiences. We want students to see how their National Parks' resources connect to their own lives.

We have also workshopped with several teachers from Newark Public Schools at various stages of this project.  These educators and our workshop participants will help us to evaluate and develop our educational offerings.

Our park is unique in that we can boast amazing cultural and natural resources that are layered with historical, cultural, geographical, and scientific curriculum potential. We are excited to invite teachers to maximize these resources to enhance their students’ interdisciplinary learning experience.

The Morristown National Historical park campus is comprised of four diverse sites:  Jockey Hollow, Fort Nonsense, New Jersey Brigade-Cross Estate, and the Museum and Washington’s Headquarters Unit. Located just a short train ride away from Newark, Morristown NHP offers the proximity and diversity of resources teachers desire.

In the near future, it is our intention to expand this program to more schools and districts. We’ll be posting updates on our progress this summer.

Stay tuned!

Morristown NHP will not be holding a typical Primary Source Seminar or Archival Ambassadors program this year. The division of cultural resources is excited to share with our friends that a new Park Service initiative, Park for Every Classroom, has started and our programs have been selected as prototypes for this new service-wide initiative. We will still be offering limited opportunities for students and teachers this spring and summer, so please check back often or give us a call. 973-539-2016 x215 (Ms. Minegar) x214 (Dr. Pfister).