(Editor’s note: Cathy Gorn is the executive director of National History Day.)
Piercing the early morning quiet on Monday with the whistle of flutes and the rhythm of drums, a group of educators and students from across the nation were led by three colonial-style musicians in a march through the Old City streets.
The students and educators waved flags from their home states and territories as they embarked on a five-day educational program. The trio of performers from the Philly Fife and Drum Company started the program off right, playing a colonial tune during the march.
Brought to the group by National History Day and Carpenters’ Hall, the program connects high school student-teacher pairs to discuss and immerse themselves in U.S. history.
After the inaugural year of the program in 2024, which included pairs from states that comprised the original 13 colonies, 2025’s program featured 27 pairs from 26 U.S. states and territories, including Guam, North Carolina and, of course, Pennsylvania. Texas was the only area represented twice among the pairs.
This program is named the “Young People’s Continental Congress” after the First Continental Congress, a group formed in 1774 to oppose British rule. It was established to “teach kids empathy,” said Cathy Gorn, executive director of National History Day and program organizer.
“They learn about other people’s struggles, which helps them understand different perspectives. I think we’re building more thoughtful and informed citizens for the future,” Gorn said.
“When you turn on the news, you hear a lot about what’s wrong, but just spend a few minutes with these kids, and there’s hope.”
The trip was fully funded by the Philadelphia City Council’s Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial and smaller donors.
Throughout the week, students and teachers will visit historic sites and museums as they go beyond the textbook in connecting with America’s founding years.
First on the itinerary was Carpenters’ Hall, the endpoint of the group’s march from their hotel and the meeting place for the First Continental Congress.
Once inside the building, Carpenters’ Hall Executive Director Michael Norris delivered the program’s opening remarks and provided some historical information on the building — until he was interrupted by Carpenters’ Hall regular Patrick Henry.
The reenactor, clad in colonial attire and wig, gave an animated recount of some past Carpenters’ Hall happenings and earned a smile from Pennsylvania student Sophia Hyatt.
For Hyatt, those immersive experiences were what piqued her interest in attending.
“When you just read a textbook, it gets so boring, because you don’t have anything to connect it to,” Hyatt said. “So just being able to visually see everything, it’s almost like you can see them sitting there, arguing and debating. It really deepens your understanding.”
Hyatt’s teacher, Jennifer Ameigh of Sayre (Pa.) High School, said the experience allows her to further her own understanding and connect with other teachers on the trip.
While Monday was the first day of the trip, Ameigh said that she and the other teachers have already connected and discussed teaching strategies, content and shared perspectives.
The same goes for Hayle Russell, a teacher from Washington, D.C., who is rooming with Morgan Keena, a teacher from North Dakota, during the trip.
“Whenever you’re in your classroom, it’s like a little bubble; once that bubble gets popped, you see all these other different perspectives,” Russell said. “Their insight is even more valuable because they come from that different background.”
Student-teacher pairs, such as Hyatt and Ameigh, were selected for the trip based on their applications submitted through the National History Day website, which required resumes and statements of interest.
In the future, the program has no tentative plans to expand, preserving the intimacy of the experience and subsequent discussions between attendees, according to Norris.
With donor support still pending, organizers hope to bring the program back in the summer of 2026, just in time for a central role in celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
National History Day is a nonprofit educational organization that aims to enhance the teaching and learning of history internationally through curriculum tools and programs.
