Atlanta History Center

 A week after chaperoning the kindergarten trip to the barn, I chaperoned the second grade fieldtrip to The Atlanta History Center where the kids learned about Georgia's Cherokee Indians. The kids had a chat with Sequoyah's daughter, Ayokeh. I was pretty proud of Jack when the tour guide asked the kids if they knew what Sequoyah is remembered for and he responded that Sequoyah developed the Cherokee alphabet. The kid's brain is a vault. After the chat with Ayokeh, we walked along our very own trail of tears. Each student got to go into their cabin and choose one item to take with them before they were relocated; this was the same experience many Cherokee had at the beginning of their relocation. Throughout the walk, there was illness, death, and starvation. The experience reminded me of a game we played when I was in school, Oregon Trail. After the trail, we watched a short video on Native American stereotypes before studying artifacts. It was neat that the kids got to actually touch tools and clothing from history. The curator had it set up where students studied Native American life before encountering the white people and after. The kids were supposed to look at what changed in the Cherokee's culture. I really enjoyed this fieldtrip, and so did Jack.