Wright Brothers National Memorial recently hosted local teachers at an education lesson plan development workshop to develop 16 new curriculum-based lesson plans for fourth and eighth grade students. Participating educators included Shannon Brinkley of Nags Head Elementary School, Mary Winstead of First Flight Elementary School, Debbie Dickerson of First Flight Middle School and Heather Barton of Manteo Middle School.

“This workshop has given us the opportunity to bring local history in our classrooms,” Brinkley said.

In addition to meeting education history standards, the lesson plans incorporate science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) as well as language arts, creative arts and social sciences. The new lesson plans are now available for use by any teacher by visiting nps.gov/wrbr/learn/education.

The plans are designed for on-site field trips at the park and use in the classroom. With the plans, students can dive in and discover the story of the Wright brothers and their success through hands-on experiments and creative activities.

“We are excited about the developments made in our education program at Wright Brothers National Memorial as well as the opportunity to build and foster partnerships between the park, local schools and our community,” said David Hallac, superintendent of National Parks of Eastern North Carolina.

The workshop was facilitated by park staff and Joshua Tillman, a National Park Service Education and Outreach Intern stationed at Wright Brothers National Memorial this summer through the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Initiative of Greening Youth Foundation.