Joyce Gaines, left, and Louis Porter from the marketing department at BrightStar Credit Union, talk to the students about the types of government in existence today and how American voting was different in the 1800s where men only voted in ballot boxes, then proclaimed their votes out loud in a public setting for others to hear.
History was the lesson of the day recently as the $381 million BrightStar Credit Union of Sunrise, Fla., sponsored an electronic field trip back to the American Revolution. BrightStar pays the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation $20,000 each year to sponsor the program at 40 schools in Broward County.
In addition to cool costumes, the e-field trips feature a simulcast and live video chat. To keep it on topic, the focus at the Oct. 11 gathering was the “Will of the People” where fourth- and fifth-graders learned about the presidential campaign of 1800, considered one of the most bitter in U.S. history. Thomas Jefferson (and other actors in costume) explains to students how negative campaigning, partisan politics and contested elections have been part of the political system since its earliest days.
Approximately 60 students from Pembroke Lakes Elementary School in Pembroke Pines, Fla., participated in the e-field trip, called in questions and dressed up in costumes of the period. Staff from BrightStar also dressed up as well bringing flags and other patriotic items.
Below, dressed up for the day at Pembroke Lakes Elementary School, from left, were Joel Pineiro, teacher Jenny Summerall, Cristen Pineiro and Emma Huerta.
