By: Misty Hurley, Alamo Education Program Assistant
As young Texans wrap up their units on the Texas Revolution and the end of the school year comes into sight, here at the Alamo, our field trip season is just amping up. The Alamo receives visits from school groups all year long but in the months of March, April, and May, students from all over the state of Texas flock to the Alamo. On average, the Alamo will see 30,000+ students during the Spring. In previous years, a registration system for school groups was created to help both Alamo Staff and teachers prepare for their visits to the site. Enough interest was shown in pre-registering that a new position was created, the Education Program Assistant, whose job it is to connect with teachers and help them to make the most out of their time on site.
Teachers can register for their field trip online through the Alamo’s website. When a teacher registers online, they are contacted via email by the Education Program Assistant with not only a confirmation of their registration, but also information about what is new on site, daily programming, where to park their buses, and other useful tips. Through this process, teachers have direct contact with an Alamo staff member who can answer questions about the site and local attractions, book tours, give advice on how to approach their visit, and what to see and do while on site. This one-on-one contact is not only helpful to teachers and school groups visiting for the first time, but also for groups who come every year and want the most up to date information about what there is to see and do on the site as it is being “Reimagined.”
For those teachers planning a visit to the site, we advise you to set aside approximately an hour and a half to two hours for your visit. Have your buses unload students on either Crockett or Houston Streets; parking and unloading on Alamo Street is a traffic violation that could result in a ticket. After unloading, have a member of your group check in at either the School Group Check in Table or the Information Cart located in front of the Church. Once your group is checked in, we have a few ways for your students to get a refresher on the site’s history — either our 17 minute orientation film, which plays under the Arbor at the back of the property, or a history talk given by a trained docent in Cavalry Courtyard. After being oriented to the site’s history, we advise large groups (50+) to break down and take a round robin rotation approach to seeing all that we have to offer, visiting the Alamo Church, Long Barrack Museum, and Living History Encampment.
If you would like to visit the Alamo with your school group, please visit our website to register and for more information. If you have questions about planning your visit, please reach out to our Education Program Assistant, Misty Hurley, at mhurley@thealamo.org
We look forward to seeing you!
