Join us as Barbara Sanders discusses myths and misconceptions associated with history education.    

This engagement will be held via Zoom only.  Previous plans to hold it as a live meeting have been cancelled.

Barbara Sanders has been Gettysburg National Military Park's Education Specialist since 1999, where she oversees thousands of students visiting the park each year – whether in-person or on virtual field trips from the park’s new distance learning studio.  In addition, the park annually offers professional development opportunities for teachers, classroom loan materials, and more.  Ms. Sanders was the educator on the project team for the planning and construction of the visitor center and museum, which included the concept and design for exhibits, films, and computer interactive elements.  

Ms. Sanders began her career in the museums of Philadelphia; she later moved to Washington, D.C. to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from The George Washington University’s Museum Education program.  She was recently awarded the National Park Service Northeast Region’s Freeman Tilden award which recognizes creativity, advancement and ingenuity in the field.  She lives in Gettysburg with her husband, historian Scott Hartwig, who was our January 2022 speaker, and their 4-year old Brittany, Hazel. 

Ms. Sanders will review the current slate of park education programs, both virtual and in-person, as a jumping off point to discussion about changing trends, challenges and philosophies in history education since she began in the position over 23 years ago.  The program will conclude with a mini "virtual field trip" as representative of where history education can and should be headed in the future.  

Ms. Sanders and her team conceptualized the Great Task Student Leadership Experience which seeks to evoke one of the key themes of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:  that in an active democracy, everyone has a role to play and inside every person exists untapped reservoirs of strength, resilience and leadership potential to effect change.   Students participating in the Gettysburg program are encouraged to identify their own “Great Task,” committing to tackling an issue that could make a difference in their community. Sanders has trained the interpretive staff and encouraged them to think beyond the traditional interpretive program to embrace dialogic approach, essential questions, and inquiry based activities.   “Perhaps more than any of the many programs Barbara Sanders has helped create here at Gettysburg, the Great Task Student Leadership Experience reaches far beyond the borders of the park and is truly changing communities and the lives of future generations,” said Lewis H. Rogers Jr., acting superintendent at Gettysburg National Military Park.   This transformative experience has been made possible through unique partnerships, most importantly with the Gettysburg Foundation, which has generously supported the program.   Since 2016, Sanders and other park staff have served more than 600 economically disadvantaged students, ages 12-18 from primarily urban communities to travel to Gettysburg for a multi-day, immersive experiences.

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