School's Out For Summer!

Today the North Texas History Center saw its last group of kiddos for the school year! We've had a great year, covering pioneering and the Civil War in North Texas. This year we saw a total of 7,355 kids ranging from second-fifth grade, from schools as close as McKinney ISD and as far away as Quinlan ISD. Sarah and I couldn't have done it without our fantastic volunteers, who came faithfully to help us educate young minds on a daily basis. Thanks!!

We're looking forward to our summer vacation as well, and we've got a lot of great projects lined up here to work on in the next three months. Check back to see what we're up to...

Better Know Your NTHC Staff & Volunteers! Part the Second: Erma Beeson

Welcome back to our Better Know Your NTHC Staff and Volunteers segment of the blog! Our esteemed victim du jour is Erma Beeson, a recent addition to the staff, who so nicely agreed to answer our (mostly) random questions.

1. What is your job title? What do you do with yourself all day?
“PR and Marketing Assistant.” I sit at the front desk and greet people, work on press releases and have at least once worked with the kids who come in for a school tour.

2. What were you doing before you took the job at NTHC?
I was the Tourism and Sales Manager for the McKinney Convention and Visitors Bureau.

3. What is one project you have worked on that you are especially proud of?
The work we did during the McKinney Sesquecentenial.

4. What was your favorite food as a kid?
Dairy Queen ice cream cones

5. Peanut butter: crunchy or smooth?
Crunchy – you’ve got to be able to feel it as you eat it!

6. What event will you be watching in this summer’s Beijing Olympics?
Gymnastics

7. If you could pick anything, what would be your superpower?
Physical strength

8. What do you do in your spare time?
I mainly do needlework and quilting

9. Which Hepburn do you prefer and why: Katharine or Audrey?
Katharine because she was so versatile in all of the roles she played.

10. If you lived in the supermarket, what aisle would you chose to live in?
I’d live in the produce isle.

11. If you could have dinner with any one person, living or dead, who would you dine with?
Maya Angelou

12. After you open your yogurt, do you lick the lid?
No, not usually, but it depends on how much yogurt is on the lid – I wouldn’t want to waste it!

13. What was your favorite album when you were 16?
In The Wee Small Hours – Frank Sinatra

14. Tell me about your dream vacation.
To go back to Istanbul and take the cruse from Istanbul to the Greek Isles and Turkey.

15. Where were you on September 11, 2001?
I was sitting in my living room praying that my daughter had not taken the subway that morning – her stop was at the World Trade Center. In fact, she was on a plane that morning – the one that left after the hijacked plane.

16. What do you consider appointment TV?
Dancing with the Stars.

17. Who is your favorite US president and why?
John F. Kennedy because of his engaging of the American citizenry – and I had the pleasure of meeting him when I was in college and working for the newspaper. He came in 1959 and I got to go to his reception at the governor’s mansion, which was really neat.

18. Were you named for anyone?
No, I don’t think so!

NTHC Education Department Receives Award!

The North Texas History Center was the recipient of this year’s Excellence in Historic Education Award from the Collin County Historical Commission. When asked why he nominated NTHC, McKinney’s Historic Preservation Officer, Guy Geirsch, replied “because of the excellent educational programs that NTHC has been providing covering early pioneering in Collin County and Collin County and the Civil War.”

Sarah Hatcher, Curator of Education, and Kate O’Donnell, Assistant Curator of Education, were presented with their award at the second annual awards ceremony in Farmersville on Saturday the 17^th. “We were honored that Mr. Geirsch nominated us for this award and were thrilled to be recognized for our efforts by others in the field,” said Hatcher.

The North Texas History Center’s Education Program began modestly during the 2001-2002 school year, serving just over 1100 students. Now in its sixth year serving children from across North Texas, NTHC is averaging approximately 8000 students a year. Children from Collin, Denton, Grayson, Rockwall and Dallas counties have been through the curriculum based education programs at NTHC. Second and third graders experience pioneer times and learn about not just the people who came as pioneers, but why they chose to pull up stakes and move across country. Fifth graders are immersed in the Civil War while their fourth grade counterparts are introduced to the Civil War and its impact on the cattle industry and cowboys of North Texas.