Engaging, curriculum-based education programs that use the museum exhibits and artifacts to enliven the study of social studies, music and other subjects are currently under development at The Museum at Bethel Woods.

The museum is an educational resource for students of all ages. The museum actively develops curriculum ties and cultivates relationships with regional schools, school districts, and teachers to develop programs and opportunities that engage and educate their students. Internship programs and other cooperative projects with collegiate programs in American studies, history, museum studies, and other disciplines offer hands-on training for select college students, provide additional curatorial and programmatic support for the museum, and further connect Bethel Woods to the national academic network.

Adult learners and scholars can soon come to the museum for seminars and symposia to share their knowledge and add to the body of scholarship in areas of popular culture, mass media, and a variety of other subjects. In the future, the museum will soon provide opportunities for individual research, as well, through an expanded website, library/archive, and access to hours of recorded oral histories and volumes of photographs of the era.

"We believe that the museum will be nationally recognized for its educational programming, which will use the historic location, collections, and exhibits as inspirations to provide meaningful learning experiences to students from elementary school through post-graduate school and lifelong learning. Through tours, hands-on programs, classroom experiences, and online opportunities, teachers will come to depend on the museum's grade-appropriate, curriculum-based programs to help them meet their teaching goals. Lesson plans and pre-visit materials will help teachers get the most out of their museum visit, and students will learn how to make the connections between the past and their own lives that will make history, art, music, and language arts memorable and meaningful to them."

— Wade Lawrence, Museum Director, The Museum at Bethel Woods

Grade-appropriate museum programs for school groups will be available beginning Fall 2008. Please call 845-295-2455 for information or to book a program.