Beech Tree News Network

Morgantown Elementary School received competitive grant from American Battlefield Trust’s History Field Trip Grant Program 

(Washington, D.C.) Morgantown Elementary School’s and 5th-grade class will soon head to Ft. Boonesborough State Park, thanks to a grant from the American Battlefield Trust’s History Field Trip Grant Program. This trip will provide students with an exceptional, hands-on history learning opportunity. Grants are awarded based on a competitive national application process, demonstrating Morgantown Elementary School’s commitment to excellence in the classroom.  

“I am so pleased that our school was chosen to receive a grant from the American Battlefield Trust for our field trip to Fort Boonesboro. Being able to see this fort, and learn from the historians there, will make so much of what I teach in fifth grade U.S. History come alive for my students!” - Beth Embry, 5th Grade Social Studies Teacher

“We greatly appreciate the American Battlefield Trust helping us send our students on this field trip. Visiting Ft. Boonesborough will allow them to see one of the most important parts of Kentucky and U.S. history. They will get to see the original fort site along with the rebuilt fort with living historians demonstrating what life was like at the fort when Daniel Boone and the frontiersmen were there in the late 1700s. This will be a valuable and memorable experience for our students” - Hunter Gary, Principal

The American Battlefield Trust is the largest battlefield land preservation organization in the country, having saved more than 58,000 acres of hallowed ground across 24 states. Through visiting preserved battlefields and walking in the footsteps of the citizen soldiers who fought there, the Trust aims to provide a foundation of good citizenship for the leaders of tomorrow. The Trust strives to produce excellent educational resources in a variety of formats for both educators and the public alike, ensuring that Americans never forget how their country was forged. 

Every year, the Trust receives applications from classrooms across the country to participate in the History Field Trip Grant Program, which offers funding and assistance to K-12 teachers planning field trips to Civil War, War of 1812, or Revolutionary War battlefields and related historic sites. During the 2022-2023 school year, more than 10,000 students from 33 states took part. 

“These kids get a chance to go to where history was made, where our country was created and defined,” said Trust President David Duncan of the History Field Trip Grant Program recipients, “Battlefields are outdoor classrooms that will teach future Americans about our democratic republic.”

Morgantown Elementary School has enormous enthusiasm for teaching history and is excited to utilize Ft. Boonesborough as an outdoor classroom that will give our students a meaningful and memorable experience. The American Battlefield Trust is proud to support and empower such excellent educators as they inspire the next generation of proud Americans. 

The American Battlefield Trust is dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about what happened there and why it matters today. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has protected more than 60,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War. Learn more at www.battlefields.org.