Program Highlights & Inclusions
- Tour Manager with your group throughout the tour
- Transportation throughout the tour
- Security on duty at the hotel so your chaperones can rest at night
- Admission to "A New Birth of Freedom" and the Cyclorama at the Gettysburg Visitor Center
- Tour of the Battlefields at Gettysburg
- Evening Gettysburg Ghost Tour
- Admission to the Gettysburg Heritage Center
- Guided Tour of the Shriver House Museum
- Day in the Life of a Child in 1863 Program at the Gettysburg Heritage Center
- Buggy Ride through Amish Country
- Amish Experience including Jacob's Choice (Amish Experience Theatre/Movie) and a guided coach tour of the Amish farmlands
Your students will visit the National Constitution Center where you'll see a multimedia presentation about the U.S. Constitution and have time to view the exhibits. In Signers' Hall you'll see life size bronze statues of all the signers of the Constitution. You'll head to the Liberty Bell Pavilion for a visit. In 1915, the bell came home to Philadelphia, where it now silently reminds us of the power of liberty. For more than 200 years people from around the world have felt the bell's message. No one can see liberty, but people have used the Liberty Bell to represent this important idea.
You will tour Independence Hall. From 1775 to 1783 (except for the winter of 1777 - 1778 when Philadelphia was occupied by the British Army) this was the meeting place for the Second Continental Congress. It was in the Assembly Room of this building that George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army in 1775 and the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. In the same room the design of the American flag was agreed upon in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and the U. S. Constitution was drafted in 1787.
In Gettysburg you will watch The Cyclorama, Film and Museum Experience at the center includes the film narrated by Morgan Freeman, "A New Birth of Freedom" (sponsored by The History Channel); the massive Cyclorama painting, which literally surrounds visitors with a magnificent visual of the fury of Pickett’s Charge, and the Gettysburg Museum of the American Civil War, featuring 12 exhibit galleries that contain artifacts and interactive displays. You'll take an in-depth three hour guided tour of the battlefield. Fought during the first three days of July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was one of the most crucial battles of the Civil War having occurred at a time when the fate of the nation literally hung in the balance.
In the years since the battle, scores of sightings, stranger than reality, have emerged from the quaint houses and gentle fields in and around the town of Gettysburg: Sightings of soldiers, moving again in battle lines, across the fields where they once marched. . . and died; tales of visions through a rip in time into the horrible scene of a Civil War hospital; whispers of a look at men long dead held eternally captive by duty. These apparitions -and more- come back to remind us, in one way or another that they are not to be forgotten for what they did here. . . Find out all about it on your ghost tour!
Your students will go beyond the battlefield to learn more about what happened in town, and with the civilians living near by. You'll visit the Shriver House Museum where you'll take a guided tour of the Shriver Family's restored 1860 home to learn about the battle through their eyes. You'll connect to the past while you listen to the story of George, Hettie, Sadie (7-years-old) and Mollie (5-years-old) unfold as you move between rooms appreciating what life was like before, during, and after the Civil War.
Your will visit the Gettysburg Heritage Center. The museum presents the entire story of the Civil War era and the Battle of Gettysburg with remarkable realism. Learn the causes, effects and significant personalities that shaped the Civil War and as a result, ultimately, American history.
Next, we will visit with Salome "Sallie" Myers. Sallie was a school teacher in Gettysburg, in the 1860's. Miss Myers will take children back to that time where they will experience a typical day. From morning chores, walking to her One Room Schoolhouse, learning time period lessons on slates, recess with time period toys and games, walking back home, more chores, homework, helping with supper, and family time by the fire, to back to your rope bed or loft. This program is done in 1st Person, using time period items, toys, lessons, stories and the origin of some popular sayings like "Hit the Hay!"
We will visit Lancaster, PA. Once there, your students will enjoy a narrated buggy ride learning about the Lancaster Amish Country. The buggy ride ends with the theatrical story of Jacob. The show, "Jacob's Choice" is featured in a state-of-the-art theatre where you'll learn the story of an Amish teenager who is experiencing a generation gap with his family. You'll see his emotional struggle as he chooses between a life of his traditional Amish values and the allure of the modern world. Afterwards, you'll have a guided tour of the Amish countryside. You will pass by one-room schools, Amish people working in the fields with horses and the local shops.
For fun, we'll take a ride to the Laserdome. Rising improbably out of the rolling corn fields of Amish country, the giant white dome waits to thrill travelers with a world of high-tech fun! Don't miss the multi-level alien spaceship laser tag arena, the huge prize arcade featuring a high-tech laser maze or the world-famous laser shows.