News Release

Lincoln Home National Historic Site Hosts Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois 21St Century Program youth for a “Celebration of the Journey”

Date: December 11, 2017
Contact: Brycen Turnbull, 217-391-3221

Springfield, Illinois – Lincoln Home National Historic Site is pleased to host students from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois 21st Century Program on Saturday, December 16, 2017, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m at the Visitor Center at 426 South 7th street Springfield, Illinois. These students will be at Lincoln Home National Historic Site for a “Celebration of the Journey” in recognition of their completion of the “Journey to Greatness: Character Lessons from the Past” program.

"Journey to Greatness: Character Lessons from the Past" is an interactive web based lesson designed to help students discover how the challenges they might face today, such as fear, prejudice, poverty, not fitting in, or anger, can be overcome by learning how heroes from our past, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King, Jr., overcame similar challenges when they were young. “Journey to Greatness” can be used to achieve a variety of goals, from focusing on the in depth history content to reaching students with inspiring lessons of good character and sound positive decision making skills. For more information on Journey to Greatness, click here.

The Saturday, December 16 event is the culmination of a months long partnership between the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois and Lincoln Home National Historic Site through which National Park Rangers taught the “Journey to Greatness” curriculum to 250 youth at ten Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois 21st Century Program locations, many of which are in Springfield Public Schools.
The “Celebration of the Journey” program will feature a variety of activities including, meeting Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, and Martin Luther King Jr.; Participating in an oratorical contest; and competing in an intra-site trivia contest.

The schedule is as follows:

1:00 pm-Visitor Center Theater 1 - Greetings, opening, and thanks to sponsors and volunteers
1:05 pm-Visitor Center Theater 1 - Oratorical Contest
1:35 pm-Visitor Center - End of Oratorical Contest and move to conference center
1:45 pm-Conference Center - Trivia Contest
2:30 pm-Conference Center - End of Trivia Contest, return to Visitor Center
2:40 pm-Visitor Center Theater 1 - Guest Speakers, question and answer period
3:15 pm-Visitor Center Theater 1 - Announcement of contest winners and picture time