Tours & Education
Teachers and Educators
The Lake City-Columbia County Historical Museum offers quality educational
programs. All programs meet Sunshine State Standards, promote critical thinking
skills, and include multidisciplinary activities that enhance skills assessed
through FCAT. You do not need to be a formal public or private school group to
book a tour or program. Home-school groups, adult groups, scouting groups, and
any others are always welcome.
Visitors will learn about the history of North Florida, the Vinzant Family and
the Museum’s collections. The Museum’s Educational Program offers a docent
guided tour tailored to the group with a handout that contains games and puzzles
about area history, given to each student.
Children and adults are encouraged to join the museum staff in their annual
living history presentations.
The Museum also offers special temporary exhibits that change on a regular
basis, such as a Quilt Exhibit during the annual Lake City Quilt Walk held in
March each year.
History Alive! Traveling Show
The Lake City-Columbia County Historical Museum Traveling Trunk is designed to
complement history lessons for third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at
public schools, Christian schools, private academies and for children who are
homeschooled. The program generally runs about an hour-and-a-half and includes
photo boards, artifacts and replicas, with information patterned after FCAT
benchmarks.
The program is hands-on and interactive. History Alive! includes an
artifact-illustrated timeline that traces Lake City and Columbia County history
from 5000 B.C. to the mid 1900s. Using maps and photos, our traveling docents
try to teach children about state and local history.
History Alive! is completely portable and can be presented to multiple classes
at the same time. Students who watch the presentation become certified as
“history sleuths.”
The Florida Heritage Education Program
A statewide initiative sponsored by the Museum of Florida History, the Florida
Heritage Education Program (FHEP) provides educational materials, workshops, and
teacher in-service to enhance awareness and appreciation of Florida's historical
and cultural legacies. Heritage education stresses the use of primary
sources-including documents, buildings, objects, traditional culture,
narratives, artwork, music, dance, and landscapes-as well as local resources
such as museums, historic sites, and archives to teach children and adults about
the past and its relationship to the present.
The Florida Heritage Education Program lesson plans consist of twenty-eight
classroom-tested activity guides that introduce Florida history, culture,
preservation, archaeology, and folklife through a variety of creative
strategies. Correlated with the Sunshine State Standards, the lessons are geared
primarily for grades 4 to 8, although most can be tailored to other age groups.
In addition to the activity procedure, each plan typically includes background
reading, a list of related books or places to visit, replicable student
worksheets or handouts, a timeline that sets the topic into historical context,
and activity extensions. If you are interested in acquiring these worksheets
please contact the museum staff.
Getting Ready to Visit the Lake City-Columbia County Historical Museum?
Here are some suggestions that will help make your visit a good one.
- Print this page to share with your partner teachers or teacher aids.
- Before you contact us to schedule your visit, please select at least three
possible dates for your trip.
- If you have any students who may need special assistance, please call in
advance.
- Your confirmation will be emailed to you.
- Please provide one chaperone for every 10 students.
- We encourage your class to explore the site in groups of 10 - 15 students.
- Please, no food or open beverages are allowed in the building.
For more information on any of our Educational Programs please contact:
Pat McElhaney at edisto1@windstream.net
or by phone at 386-755-9096