Henry County Public Schools hosts VA250 Celebration & Advanced Manufacturing Expo

HENRY COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - As the country gets ready to celebrate its 250th birthday, there are celebrations and events all across our hometowns, some with an education edge.

Henry County Public Schools is marking Virginia’s 250th anniversary celebration with a hands-on history lesson for students. Tuesday, HCPS held an event at the New College Institute, combining a VA250 celebration with an Advanced Manufacturing Expo.

The goal is to give elementary summer school kids a chance to step into the late 1700s through an interactive “Colonial Passport Experience.”

“History is super important. It’s not just stuff that happened a long time ago. A lot of the things that happened even hundreds of years ago are still impacting our lives today, and we’re just so excited to have all the students here today learning about our nation’s past, our state’s past, and even some local history,” said Sue Townes, the Secondary Social Studies Coordinator for Henry County Public Schools.

The superintendent, Dr. Amy Blake-Lewis, said the goal is to help students better understand Virginia’s history during the Revolutionary era, while also encouraging thoughtful conversations about freedom, citizenship, and the different experiences of people living at that time.

“A lot of people think history is just boring. It’s reading an old book or about something that happened in the past. But when we have the ability to bring it to life right here for the students to touch it and experience it, certainly that connects with them in a very different way than just reading it in a book,” said Dr. Blake-Lewis.

Organizers said during the expo, elementary school students went through a “Colonial Passport Experience” where they rotate through interactive stations focused on Virginia, and Henry County, in the late 1700s.

Along the way, they explore what colonial life looked like, meet historical interpreters, examine artifacts, and take part in storytelling and crafts tied to the Revolutionary Era.

Each student gets a “passport” and collects stamps as they complete activities at every station, turning the lesson into a hands-on, guided experience.

“Any time students have an opportunity to put their hands on things, to speak with people who are specializing in different areas and to ask those questions in small groups, I think it tends to stick with them a lot longer,” Townes said.

Teachers like Megan Wells said connecting local history to the broader story of America’s founding helps learning,

“They’re able to understand where our country comes from and they just get to learn so much more actually seeing things, and be able to experience it versus just sitting in a classroom,” Wells said.

Organizers said it was a revolutionary time machine, taking students on a 250-year-old journey to where it all began.

Gray Media, parent company of WDBJ7, is celebrating the upcoming 250th birthday of the United States of America with a year-long look at our country called “We the People”.