Visit to the Past

Take your students on a trip back in time with our Visit to the Past workshop. This hands-on workshop for grades K-12 includes educational and fun-filled activities, some of which may include operating the hand press at the print shop, grinding corn into meal and grits at the gristmill, washing clothes on a washboard, making a poultice at the doctor’s office, working with the blacksmith or shelling corn for the animals at the farm.
Students dress in costume and eat an authentic farmhouse lunch, cooked over the open hearth or on a woodstove, at one of the village’s houses or cabins, much as they would have in rural wiregrass Georgia over a century ago.

Hours:
The museum and village are open Tuesday-Friday, 9:00-4:30 for workshops, and workshops are offered September-December, and February-May. All workshops include touring the rest of the site and the Museum of Agriculture as the school’s time allows. The workshops start between 9:15 and 10:00 am, and usually conclude by 2:00 pm. Promptness is key to your workshop. If you arrive late, your students will likely miss an entire workshop station.

Cost & Payment:
The cost to the student is $15.00, which includes their costume and lunch. Adult group leaders , teachers and bus drivers are admitted free. Any extra adults pay the normal admission fee of $7.00.
No deposit is required, but last-minute cancellations (within 7 working days) will be billed $25 for costs incurred.
Payment is to be made at the Country Store – no payments will be taken at the museum or village. We accept Visa, Mastercard, cash and checks. All checks should be made payable to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. Please bring proof of your tax exempt status when you arrive, if this applies.
No refunds are offered for overpayment. Please have an accurate count of your students before paying.

Arrival:
Groups must arrive on time to keep their reservation. Please have the students remain on the bus while one person goes into the Country Store to pay.

Group size:
The workshop has a minimum requirement of 10 students and a maximum of 72 – no exceptions. If your group exceeds the number of participants, you will need to schedule additional workshops on subsequent days. Students are divided into smaller groups prior to your arrival by our Education Coordinator, and follow a pre-arranged itinerary. Each group is led by an adult chaperone, which you are expected to provide.
Each group of students visits a number of stations for approximately 20-25 minutes each, as time allows, with at least a 30-minute lunch break.

Chaperones:
Please note that you will be expected to provide adult group leaders for your students, as many as 12 per visit, depending on the size of your group. Teachers should be sure all chaperones understand their duties before the visit.
Chaperones should:
*Assist the interpreters in providing a positive learning experience
*Stay with their students at all times and help them move through the village and museum
*Be familiar with the site and group itinerary before arriving
*Not deviate from the group itinerary
*Turn off all cell phones during the workshop

Lunch:
Students and adult group leaders eat a home-cooked lunch at the farmhouses. All other adults are expected to provide their own lunches or to purchase a lunch combo at the drugstore. Only students and adult group leaders eat at the farmhouses – other adults may eat elsewhere on site during lunchtime. Please call 229-391-5205, or email tcarpenter@abac.edu to arrange to have lunch combos ready for your extra adults and visitors.

Clothing:
Please wear comfortable walking shoes and clothing. No sandals or ball caps. White shirt and jeans are no longer required.

Safety:
There are many hands-on activities available, however, many of the structures, fences, and items in the village and museum are antiques; please no handling of these items or climbing on fences or well covers. Please do not feed or pet farm animals or livestock, unless given permission by an interpreter.

Booking:
Reservations are required for our Visit to the Past workshop. Please click on the following link to fill out the Visit to the Past Workshop Information Form, which can then be emailed to tryan@abac.edu. Your workshop is not reserved until you receive a reservation confirmation from the Education Department.

Visit to the Past Workshop Information Form