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Teacher takes students on virtual road trip, visits sites where history happened

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

History road trip FILE PHOTO: Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel is seen, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered on the balcony, and is now part of the complex of the National Civil Rights Museum as they prepare for the 50th anniversary of his assassination on April 1, 2018 in Memphis, Tennessee. A teacher in Texas took her kids on a virtual road trip, teaching live from spots around the country where history happened. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Forget about just being in the room where it happened, a teacher in Texas is taking her students to places where history really occurred.

Nothing says that remote learning has to be done from the comfort of a home, so A.P. U.S. history teacher, Cathy Cluck, got the OK from her school’s principal to hit the road and take her students, albeit virtually, to where historical events she was teaching about actually happened, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Cluck, who teaches at Westlake High School, started on a journey she called the #GreatAmericanHistoryRoadTrip. For 15 days, she crisscrossed the U.S. to teach from places where her students were learning about, going live every day for class, NPR reported.

Cluck said her school did not pay for her trip.

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On the list of sites: Gettysburg, Colonial Williamsburg, the Civil Rights Museum, and of course, the site of the Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr duel in Weehawken, New Jersey, NPR reported.

Cluck will use the photos and videos she took on her trip when she revisits the lessons, the Chronicle reported.

Not only did Cluck’s travels teach her students about history, but they also allowed her students to learn about their teacher.

“I wanted to make sure they understood that it’s OK to not be OK, and instead of looking at things negatively, take it as an opportunity to figure out a way to do things you can’t normally do. It’s okay to embrace change,” Cluck told the Chronicle.

She used anything she could as a teaching opportunity, including a slight delay when she had gotten a screw in her tire and when she had to teach a class from the side of a road in Jamestown, Virginia.

Other adjustments needed to be made on the way.

She had planned on visiting New York and Boston, but due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, she was not allowed to do so, NPR reported.

Cluck’s distance learning isn’t coming to an end either. She’s planning another trip through some other Southern states that will include part two of her on-the-road teaching plan if her school has to go back to remote learning, NPR reported.

She also set up a YouTube channel to share her lessons with the general public. Click here for more.

Cox Media Group

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