Civil War trip quite an experience

Quality education is defined by students’ proficiency with the material. Methods for instruction vary, but often the most successful means for the end of high-level comprehension is the ability to teach hands-on.

Daniel Gorman, a longtime Palmer High School history teacher, has been taking groups to the East Coast for 15 years. The Civil War Club tours the eastern campaign of the Civil War, from the battle of the Wilderness to Appomattox Courthouse, the battles of Manasses, all three days of Gettysburg and so much more. The trip lasts 17 days, touching in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. While they’re at it, the location also provides for experiencing Washington, D.C., which includes a trip to the U.S. Holocaust Museum and visits with Alaska senators. And through all this, the students even get to have a little fun.

As a junior taking Gorman’s U.S. History class, much of the cirriculum was based around the Civil War. Gorman is a published author on the subject and it could be said that he is more than just a little fond of the Civil War. And though Gorman has incredible proficiency in teaching the Civil War, sitting through lectures taking notes on battles sparks a limited level of interest.

But hearing some of the same lectures for the second time while on the trip, they came to life. There is no substitute for being able to see and touch and feel the battlefield and terrain where the hero Joshua Chamberlain valiantly saved the Union battle countless times, where bumbling Ambrose Burnside made his crippling mistakes, and where General Robert E. Lee acheived military immortality.

The experience in education, paired with the unique opportunities afforded by the cities back East, pack this trip full each day with hands-on knowledge and experience as a citizen that cannot be duplicated.

The students get a chance to go through just about every museum worth visiting on the topic, go through the process of firing a cannon, see re-enacters in character, the firing of a civil war rifle, and charge Little Round Top, experiencing the war with close detail.

While it is a trip that requires a great deal of fund-raising, more than a week of school absences and even a little stress along the way, the learning done on the Civil War trip is invaluable to any student.

Tim Rockey is a senior at Palmer High School who also writes for the Frontiersman’s Sports section.