PRCA Campaign Strategies: A presentation for the Bulloch County School Board to illustrate the benefits of field trips.

1. Willow Hill Field Trip
Proposal
The benefits, statistics and execution of field trips to Willow Hill Heritage and
Renaissance Center

2. Willow Hill Heritage and
Renaissance Center Background
Located in Portal, GA, Willow Hill Heritage and
Renaissance Center is a former elementary school
(Willow Hill Elementary School for Negroes), that has
been converted into a museum. The facility was
established in 1874 during the Reconstruction era. It
was one of the first schools for African Americans in
Bulloch County.
1954 Willow Hill School
Building, circa 1975

3. Objective
❧ Ultimately, we want to work
with you in order to create
valuable, in-depth learning
experiences to enrich the
minds of Bulloch County
youths. Meanwhile offering a
new perspective in history and
supplementing Georgia’s
performance standards.

4. Making Willow Hill Field
Trips a Reality
Talking Points Include:
❧ Satisfying Georgia’s Requirement Standards
❧ How field trips benefit student learning
❧ How field trips benefit the community
❧ The budget

5. Meeting Georgia
Performance Standards
6th and 7th Grade 8th Grade 9th-12th Grade
Course: N/A
From 6th to 7th grade
there is no specific
curriculum pertaining to
Willow Hill. However,
prior hands-on learning
would help instill the
teachings to be
received from grades
8th-12th.
Course: Georgia
Studies
Section SSH86 covers
the Reconstruction era
in Georgia, slavery and
the Civil War. Topics of
which Willow Hill
possesses historical
artifacts and stories to
support.
Course: United States
History
Section SSUSH8
explains how slavery
became a significant
issue in American
politics.

6. A Piece of Literature
❧ Defining their Destiny: The
Story of the Willow Hill
School, Written by F. Erik
Brooks, recounts the
history of the Willow Hill
School
❧ This book can also meet
Georgia’s Curriculum by
fulfilling the “25 book
standard” or can act alone
as a historical account
supplement

7. A Study Pertaining to Student
Benefits of Field Trips
❧ Who? Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
❧ Northwest Arkansas
❧ What? Students went on a field trip to the newly
constructed museum and were later assessed about
their trip
❧ When? 2011
❧ How? Surveys and essays were distributed three
weeks after field trips to 10,912 students and 489
teachers at 123 different schools to access information
recall and critical thinking.
Read more about the study here!

8. Student Benefits Found
from the Study Include:
❧ Increase in Information Recollection
❧ In the study it was found that students were able to
recall a great deal of information when they were
surveyed three weeks after the field trip
❧ Improved Critical Thinking
❧ Students who went on the tour a second time were
more observant and were able to describe works of art
more in depth
❧ Historical Empathy
❧ Museum tours expose students to diverse time periods,
people and ideas. Leading to the ability to appreciate
the way of life of people from different places and times.

9. Field Trips and
Community Benefits
❧ Better informed citizenry
❧ Taking the hands-on approach allows students to
better understand different aspects in history.
They are more open to discussing the information,
because they know it.
❧ Students will naturally begin to show an
appreciation for diversity

10. References
❧ https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/Brows
eStandards/SocialStudiesStandards.aspx
❧ http://www.elkhartfieldtrip.org/Images/PDF%20for%2
0Presentation/Field%20Trip%20Research%20Article.
pdf
❧ http://www.americanschoolbuscouncil.org/issues/env
ironmental-benefits
❧ https://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-
bin/owa/fte_pack_enrollgrade.entry_form