A Summer of Historic Proportions

By Jessi Gordy

Summer Campers showing off their crafty creations.

With summer's arrival many Atlanta area parents are looking for ways to get kids out and about to continue learning and to have fun! Our Museum Interpreters are geared up and ready for another summer of historic proportions for our History Camps at Atlanta History Center and our Writing Camps at Margaret Mitchell House.

To learn a little more about the activities our campers will get to participate in, let’s meet Kate Kovach, museum interpreter at the Atlanta History Center. Kate has worked at the Atlanta History Center since October 2014 and has taught both history and writing camps as well as previously worked as an interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg.

Kate has returned this summer to teach a few of the writing camps at the Margaret Mitchell House. Last year she worked effortlessly to create a thematic week of camp, “Mystery in the City,” which involved extensive planning and elaborate lesson plans to convince the campers they were helping solve an unsolved mystery in Atlanta. Every day of camp at the Margaret Mitchell House involves field trips to surrounding Atlanta landmarks—both within walking distance or a short ride on MARTA.

Through different thematic writing camps, campers may find themselves exploring the inner workings of a news station to get the latest scoop as young journalists, they could be revisiting the scene of an infamous crime as detectives to solve the mystery and work out plot, or roaming the stunning landscape of Oakland Cemetery to discover the impact of tone and setting. Every day is an immersive adventure for campers as they perfect their writing skills.

Summer Campers out on an excursion to the High Museum of Art.

One of Kate’s most memorable summer camp experiences is from her time teaching history camp at the Atlanta History Center. As a former interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, Kate was thrilled to have to opportunity to revisit Colonial America for a week of camp. Her campers learned and played native games, baked cookies using 18th century recipes inside the Smith Family Farm’s kitchen, danced historic dances, and even pieced together theories surrounding the Lost Colony of Roanoke, Virginia.

On the last day of the camp, campers have the opportunity to show off what they learned and did throughout the week at the Parent Showcase. We have had poetry readings after a week of “Creative Writing” camp as well as murder mystery parties after our infamous “Mystery in the City” camp at the Margaret Mitchell House. At the Atlanta History Center, we have seen camper-created museum exhibitions as well as simulated experiences of the Oregon Trail through the Quarry Garden for our thematic history camps.

Summer camps at both the Atlanta History Center and Margaret Mitchell House are more than enjoyable for campers—it’s fun for the staff! Our staff loves seeing campers’ enthusiasm for history blossom as they connect the past to the present through exploration and discovery. 

Learn more about our summer camp offerings! We have some weeks still available for booking.

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