Late this spring, all Coronado third graders participated in the Coronado Historical Association’s Local History Program, engaging in lessons and activities about the rich history of Coronado. Since 2009, the Coronado Historical Association has worked with Coronado Unified School District, Sacred Heart Parish School, and Christ Church Day School to bring local history to third-grade classrooms as part of their social studies curriculum. With the support of these schools and the Hotel del Coronado, the program has benefited over 3,500 students since its inception. Coronado Optimist Club and the Margaret Ketcham Shriver Education Fund provide financial support for this program.
Trained education docents delivered four hours of instruction in each Coronado third grade classroom utilizing historic photos from CHA’s vast database. Students were transported back in time to learn and experience Coronado’s past so that they become knowledgeable citizens of today and the future. Lessons and activities included such topics as learning like a historian, citizenship and the legacy of several model citizens, a historical timeline of events from the mid-1880s to the present, the impact of Coronado’s unique geography on the development of the community, and comparing and contrasting the past to the present. The culmination of lessons was a walking field trip to the CHA Museum for a hands-on experience with items from the CHA collection and an exciting tour of the Hotel del Coronado, led by the hotel’s historian, Gina Petrone.
Docents and teachers reported how engaged the students were in learning about their hometown, and how excited they are to be considered as Junior Historians for their efforts. A follow-up event called Victorian Games Day has been specially planned for the Junior Historians on July 23. For more information on the Junior Historian Program, please contact CHA at [email protected].
