A sponsorship renewal means that a popular educational program at the History Museum on the Square will continue to be offered for free.
The history museum’s Traveling Exploration Trunk program provides eight trunks full of items that help bring history to life. Great Southern Bank sponsored it over the past year, which allowed educators and organizations to use the trunks at no cost. The bank recently announced that the sponsorship will continue for the 2025-2026 school year.
The trunks are filled with reproduction items, primary sources and educational tools and are geared toward various ages.
Topics include: Early Native Americans, Osage Culture, The Lewis & Clark Expedition, The Pioneer Experience, Civil War in Springfield, African American Heritage, World War II and Civics in Action.
According to the museum, the trunks reached 13,510 students and 918 adults in the last year. The sponsorship renewal, it said, helps remove financial barriers and allows more students to get hands-on lessons about local history.
