More than 90,000 students, teachers and chaperones visited Greenfield Village alone this past school year, and we are excited to welcome each one – but this was an extra-special year for one school in particular. Read on as Erin Milbeck Wilcox from our Education and Learning Department shares the story.

This year, Dodge Intermediate in Twinsburg, Ohio, celebrated a milestone with us – 2012 marked the 50th year that students from Dodge visited Greenfield Village!

Located near Cleveland, Dodge Intermediate sends about 300 students to visit both Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum every year.

This year, Dodge held a contest for students to design a T-shirt just for this special anniversary; the winning design was created by fifth-grader Jonathan Brooks and  featured hand-drawn illustrations on the front and a quote from Henry Ford on the back: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”

Teacher Don Schultz has been educating students at Dodge Intermediate for 27 years, and he mentioned how important this trip is to the students because of the connections it makes to the curriculum he and his fellow educators use in the classroom.

As Don said, “You may not remember the properties of multiplication when you’re a little bit older, but one thing you’re always going to remember is The Henry Ford… It’s a wonderful experience. When the kids get back, it’s all they talk about.”

To add another meaningful element, the group was accompanied by John Gadinski, a former Dodge student whose wife now teaches at the school – and this was John’s 42nd visit to Greenfield Village with the school. He recalled his original visit as a fifth grader – funded by selling ice cream at the school for just a few cents – and how his teacher wanted him and his fellow students to make the trip to “experience history.”

As a special gift for these special guests, Paula Gangopadhyay, Chief Learning Officer at The Henry Ford (second from right), presented the Dodge Intermediate group with a copy of Telling America’s Story: A History of The Henry Ford for the Dodge library.

We sincerely thank Don Schultz, John Gadinski and all the teachers and students at Dodge Intermediate for continuing such a wonderful tradition with The Henry Ford!

Do you remember visiting The Henry Ford on a field trip as a kid? Have your children visited with their school? Tell us about it below or on our Club ED Facebook page!

Erin Wilcox is an Education Specialist at The Henry Ford. She’s fortunate enough to be able to visit the lambs in Greenfield Village whenever she wants.