Education for students and lifelong learners is a top priority for the Salem Museum. At the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation’s recent annual meeting, Salem Museum staff members Alex Burke and Garrett Channell were recognized with a Kegley Preservation Award for their work in heritage education.
“We are so grateful to Alex and Garrett for their hard, creative work,” said Fran Ferguson, the museum’s executive director. “They are succeeding in building excitement about history and making the past come alive for area students.”
Burke, the museum’s assistant director, and Channell, director of archives and education, share their passion for history to excite people of all ages and turn history-resisters into eager history learners. Their audiences include school groups, families and adults. The exhibits, programs and resources they have developed are designed to make history more enjoyable, more meaningful and, therefore, more memorable.
Channell works closely with the Salem and Roanoke County schools to develop hands-on history programs using the museum’s resources. To teach local history and reinforce classroom instruction about national and world events, the two travel to schools to offer classroom visits, as well as welcoming groups to the museum on field trips.
Channell has developed a field trip that meets school groups at a park by the Roanoke River. Immersed in the woods, Channell shares what is known about the Virginia Indians who once lived in this area, and how they utilized the natural resources that the students are experiencing all around them.
Burke was also recognized for the series of short videos, 50 in all, that he developed during the COVID lockdown in 2020. His exploration of local historic sites and artifacts provided history and a sense of community to isolated viewers during the early months of the pandemic. All the videos are available via the museum’s website and teachers have been using them in their lesson plans. Burke is also the museum’s chief exhibit designer.
The Salem Museum is open Tuesdays-Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is free.
-The Salem Times-Register
Museum Photo:
Alex Burke, left, and Garrett Channell.
Courtesy of Salem Museum
