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Press Release

November 8, 2016

Contact: Steve Hawkins
Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-0754
shawkins@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org/historycenter

Oklahoma History Center Education Department Earns Awards

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma History Center is proud to announce that its Education Department has been presented with two separate awards recognizing its contributions to academic excellence in Oklahoma. 

The Education Department earned the EDCOM Award for Excellence in Programming from the Mountain-Plains Museums Association at its recent conference in Oklahoma City. It was given in response to the department’s popular Traveling Trunks program. This program was developed with the goal of bringing the museum to the classroom. The Traveling Trunks program consists of more than 25 containers representing different aspects and time periods of Oklahoma and American history, and each trunk includes hands-on objects and activities. Trunks can be picked up at the History Center or shipped to schools and are checked out for one week. During the last academic year, more than 250 schools took advantage of the program with approximately 25,000 students impacted by the learning experience.

The Education Department was further honored as Newspapers in Education’s (NIE) Partner of the Year for working side by side with NIE in providing hands-on learning through the Traveling Trunks program. NIE is a division of The Oklahoman that provides reading materials, supplemental curriculum and hands-on learning experiences at no charge to program benefactors. Every year NIE issues recognition to various educational institutions and programs that assist in offering its services to Oklahoma students. “Through Newspapers in Education the Oklahoma History Center is able to expand our outreach to teachers and students across the state who may not have access to other resources. NIE provides the Education Department a way to help each Oklahoma student become a better citizen with knowledge about the history of our great state,” said Sarah Dumas, History Center director of education.

For more information about the Traveling Trunk program or to reserve a trunk, please visit www.okhistory.org/historycenter/trunks.

The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.





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