Shelburne Middle School‘s sixth-grade students will visit the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico thanks to a $2,500 grant from the American Battlefield Trust’s History Field Trip Grant Program.
The approximately 210 students will travel to Quantico in November and participate in an immersive, hands-on history experience. The trip is coordinated by Shelburne teachers Melanie Argenbright, Lauren Obaugh, and Kendra Thompson, and Instructional Coach Jennifer Turner.
“Hands-on learning like this helps history come alive for our students. We are so grateful for the support that makes opportunities like this possible,” Turner said.
The History Field Trip grant supports kindergarten through 12th-grade educators across the United States and provides students with meaningful opportunities to connect with the American past. As the nation’s largest battlefield land preservation organization, the American Battlefield Trust has saved more than 58,000 acres of hallowed ground in 24 states.
“These kids get a chance to go to where history was made, where our country was created and defined. Battlefields are outdoor classrooms that will teach future Americans about our democratic republic,” Trust President David Duncan of the History Field Trip Grant Program recipients said.
The Trust‘s goal is to provide a foundation of good citizenship for tomorrow’s leaders by allowing students to visit preserved battlefields and walk in the footsteps of the citizen soldiers who fought.
The Trust receives applications from American classrooms to participate in the program, which offers funding and assistance to teachers who plan field trips to Civil War, War of 1812 or Revolutionary War battlefields and related historic sites. More than 10,000 students from 33 states participated in the 2023-2024 school year, and in November 2025 Shelburne Middle students from Staunton will participate.
Shelburne Middle staff are enthusiastic about using the museum as an extension of the classroom to create a memorable learning experience for students while honoring individuals who shaped the nation’s history.
The American Battlefield Trust is dedicated to preserving America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educating the public about what happened and why it matters today. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization has protected more than 60,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War.
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Rebecca Barnabi
