The first thing I would do is look at your local school curriculums for 8th
grade (and MS in general) to determine what they need - A great program that
doesn't fit into the teacher's classroom goals won't have any students there
to enjoy it or learn.  Call your local education Administrative offices,
they can direct you to the curriculum director who can get you the
requirements and learner performance objectives.  I would (and do) work from
those when designing new ed programs, and relate what they are already
studying to the museum, program, etc.
We work with a 6th grade teacher who teaches immigration, and have developed
a great program that brings local, national, and world history in that
relates to her curriculum and our mission.  We are developing a really good
program on WWI for HS 11 and 12 graders with a local high school teacher -
once again, relating her needs to our mission and scope.  THese programs
have already had good results, and for my museum, I've had hundreds of JR.
and HS students this year, and we were lucky in the past few years if we got
a couple classes...
Best,
Melinda Gilpin

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