How are our packages designed?
Duration & Time Slots
The sign-up times are times that we expect you to have arrived at our front door to begin your day. We will provide a 10 minute grace period for your group to visit bathrooms and water fountains. However, we will only be able to provide nominal flexibility. We know that bus schedules and traffic can be erratic, so we ask that you are planning strategically when choosing your time to visit.
Group Sizes
For numerous reasons – safety, Fire Marshall, staffing, health, etc. – we have specifications for our groups. Please note that there will be very limited flexibility.
*Minimums
-We require a minimum of 20 students and 2 adults for most group reservations, and the two adults are complimentary. After the initial 22, we will provide ONE complimentary ADULT ticket for every 10 paid STUDENT tickets.
*Maximums
-Please note that each package has a MAXIMUM number of people who can be in your group. This is not a flexible number, and it includes infants.
*Chaperones
-We understand that many groups do not know how many chaperones they will need when they are booking. Advice: book for a larger group than you need if you are concerned. It is much easier to reduce your numbers later than to add numbers. Once we have completed our staffing for a given month, we can not add staff if you decide after that time that you need to add more chaperones.
Self-Guided Explore Time
-Listen to your students squeal with delight as they take their Scavenger Hunt sheets and explore the many corners of the Wagons of the Museum. Touching, smelling, petting, listening, and cooperating, the young explorers will learn through hands-on self-guided investigation.
Film
We currently offer two films to choose from:
Bound for Oregon
(Ages 7+)
30 minutes
Docu-Dramatization
From the journals of families who traveled across the Oregon Trail and the renowned John McLoughlin, aka the “Father of Oregon”, this film shares the hopes, wanderlust, hardships, losses, joys, and celebrations of finally arriving to the settlers’ new home in Oregon.
Oregon’s First People
(Ages 10+)
40 minutes
Documentary
Narrated by Cheryle Kennedy, the Chairwoman of the Grande Ronde Tribes of Western Oregon. Oregon’s First People details the devastating effects that resulted from settlers coming to Oregon while sharing the restoration being done to reclaim the traditions and heritage of the Grand Ronde Tribes.
Lunch
Most packages do not have scheduled lunch times. This allows you to decide if or when you want to take a break in your day for lunch with your group. You can choose to return to your school for lunch, or you are welcome have a picnic on our site before, during or after your scheduled visit. Information about the onsite options will be provided after you have booked your visit.
Bio Breaks
We schedule “Bio Breaks” so your group has time for bathrooms, snacks, water refills. This does NOT preclude your group from accessing those needs at any other time! However, we recognize that many times staff and students ignore their own needs when they are excited and engaged, so we want to acknowledge the critical importance of scheduled breaks to accommodate for their needs as well as for the needs of our staff.
Guest Speaker
For 10th grade groups who will have a Guest Speaker:
We are proud to have established relationships with several community colleges and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. Because of those relationships, the important curriculum standards developed by the ODE, and the importance of opportunities for students to engage with living history, we are proud to provide a guest speaker who will be able to engage with your students about a topic relevant to your curriculum, and then have a Question and Answer session to follow.
Please Note: Requests must be made a minimum of 90 days prior your visit to guarantee accommodation.
ODE 2024 Social Science Standards (grades 2, 3, 4, 8)
Each of the below-listed workshops has listed which standard(s) (or portions thereto) with which it is aligned: 2024 Oregon Social Studies Standards
Tribal Histories/Shared Histories (grades 4, 8, 10)
Each of the below-listed workshops has listed which standard(s) (or portions thereto) with which it is aligned: Tribal History/Shared History (TH/SH)
Workshop
Your students will engage in and interactive, hands-on activity-based workshop led by an Interpreter that is directly tied to part of the Oregon Department of Education 2024 Social Science Standards (grades 2, 3, 8) &/or the Tribal Histories/Shared Histories Standards (grades 4, 8, 10). Workshops are designed and offered based on age and grade level appropriateness and interest level. We also take into consideration the importance of kids having FUN while they learn!
Workshop Options
Once you have booked your reservation, you will receive an email confirmation with a Google Form identifying the Workshops from which you will choose for your package. It is important that you make your choice by the noted date on the Form so we can be well prepared for your group’s visit. (Click here for workshop descriptions!)
All Ages Experience
-Packing the Wagon
-Candle Making
Grade 2
-Paw Quest
-Pioneer Dress Up
-Overland Tour
Grades 3-4
-Packing the Wagon
-Chinuk Wawa Trade Language & Animal Identification
-Candle Making
-Master Gardener
-Oregon Trail Survivor
Grade 8
-UnPacking the Wagon
-TBD
Grade 10
-UnPacking the Wagon
-TBD