Highlandtown #215 Pre-K through 1st grade students visited the Fire Museum of Maryland this week to participate in one of the museum’s educational programs titled, “Bucket Brigade”. This hands-on, immersive experience gave young students the opportunity to learn about “the evolution of firefighting technology and fire safety”. Surrounded by beautifully restored fire trucks and equipment, the young students of Highlandtown Elementary Middle squealed in excitement as they walked around pointing in all directions and eager to get to the next station along the tour.
As if getting to see and touch real-life fire trucks and fire fighting equipment wasn’t cool enough, museum guides dressed in firefighter uniforms, engaging students through stories steeped in history. Students walked through the doors of an actual Baltimore City fire station facade which led students into a life-size model of an old fire house that dates back to the time of horse-drawn fire trucks! Students were also taken to the “Discovery Room” where their imaginations could run like wildfire, as children climbed on a firetruck and dressed up like firefighters.
It was so rewarding to see kindergarteners’ faces light up when the tour guide mentioned Benjamin Franklin whose name they all recognized as part of a very recent classroom lesson about Franklin’s involvement in developing his city’s first fire station. The tours are specially designed to meet the needs of of different age groups and various parts of the museum are activated and addressed in different ways depending on the grade level. Each tour has different curriculum tie-ins that align well with concepts taught in the classroom which are designated within the museum’s education brochure.
For more on what the Fire Museum of Maryland has to offer schools, visit their website at https://www.firemuseummd.org/education or you can contact Education Director Will Roulett at 410-321-7500 x102 or wroulett@firemuseummd.org with any questions.
To learn more about the Schools Program and how your school can become a Partner School, contact our Schools Program Manager, Carla Blackwell at carla@artseveryday.org. Applications for the FY19-20 School Year are due May 15th!
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