Fithian took the trip with her daughter Andrea, a third-grader at Eisenhower Elementary School, as part of the Warren County School District Gifted teachers and Gifted Principals trip recently. Students from each of the Warren County School District’s schools – 79 students in all – along with parents and teachers made the trip.

“This field trip was a unique and memorable opportunity for the students,” Fithian said. “Unfortunately, kids from our area do not always get the opportunity to visit museums like this so history is only an abstract concept in books or TV. I really saw history come to life in the eyes of these kids when they were face to face with a dinosaur, writing about their personal artifacts, and learning about the people who originally lived in our area. Personally, my favorite part was the wonderful guide in the art museum who took the time to teach the kids how to look at and appreciate art. She did a wonderful job introducing a new world to these kids. This was an amazing experience.”

The trip included students in third through 12th grades. Each group, accompanied by a museum staff member, attended the Three Cultures tour of the natural history museum and the Ordinary Things Exhibit in the art museum. The groups were broken into groups based on grade. All students experienced each tour.

“I believed that this trip to the Carnegie Arts and Natural History Museum was a unique opportunity to expose our Warren County students to a broader cultural experience,” said teacher Meggi Brown. “The Arts section of the field trip was fascinating, and the Natural History portion covered a variety of topics during the tour and through self-guided exploration. I feel that every student walked away with new knowledge from this field trip.”

Students from the Warren County School District Gifted teachers and Gifted Principals group are pictured at the Carnegie Art and Natural History museum.

The field trip was made possible through the Romayne Barrett Fund with the Community Foundation of Warren County. They also helped pay for a field trip last spring to the Carnegie Science Center for gifted Warren County students in third through 12th grades.

“It was full of various and unique exhibits,” said Juliet Fargo, a seventh-grader at Eisenhower Middle-High School. . Whether historical or wonderful artworks, I was never bored. All I found as I wandered with my group was fascinating in some way or another and I always found myself stopping and taking the time to gaze at or read about the exhibits. It was a wonderfully magnificent experience I had, and I surely see myself willingly visiting again.”

The Romayne Barrett Learning Enrichment Fund was started with the Community Foundation of Warren County to enrich and expand educational programs for gifted and high-achieving students. S.T.E.A.M. programs (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) for students starting with students entering the fourth grade are available for support from the fund.

“I felt that the trip to Carnegie was such an amazing experience,” said Alyssa Wismar, a 12th grader at Warren Area High School. ” The tour guides were full of so much amazing information and joy and really helped us learn so much about the amazing exhibits while having fun. It was definitely a moment that I won’t forget, and it made my senior year even that much better.”

Support from this fund is not need-based but rather is designed to provide access to programs by helping to eliminate financial barriers to students. If anyone has any questions about the application process, they can contact Robert Kaemmerer or LouAnn Gadsby at CFWC@westpa.net or call 814-726-9553.

Students look at a Native American artifact during a recent trip to the Carnegie Art and Natural History Museum.

A guide discusses artwork at the Carnegie Art and Natural History museum with members of a Warren County School District Gifted teachers and Gifted Principals group during a recent trip.

Students from the Warren County School District Gifted teachers and Gifted Principals group are pictured at the Carnegie Art and Natural History museum.