Education Outreach for National History Day

Partners: Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC), Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU), University of Minnesota (U of M), Minneapolis Public Schools, St. Paul Public Schools The partners are extending the reach of National History Day in Minnesota. MNHS professional staff members coordinate school services with an emphasis on support for students from diverse backgrounds. Higher education partnerships help build college readiness skills for middle and high school students and strengthen the mentoring skills of Minnesota college students. Undergraduate students from the U of M, ACTC and MNSCU colleges are trained to become History Day mentors and work with History Day students at inner city and rural schools. In another component of the partnership, undergraduate students representing all five ACTC colleges participated in a fall semester course designed to increase knowledge about the museum field. During the spring semester these students interned at Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools, mentoring students participating in the History Day program. ACTC Fellows also visited leading museums in the Midwest to compare and contrast MNHS with other cultural institutions regarding content learned in class.