(L-R) Front: Jorin Hood and Leslie Doiron Clark. Back: Charles White and Michael Durling (Photo courtesy of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has added another Emmy to its shelf.
Four of the foundation’s employees, along with a freelance scriptwriter, were recently awarded a regional Emmy for their Electronic Field Trip television program “The Global Economy.”
Nominated in the Informational/Instructional — Segment/Series category, the work and its creators were honored by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Science at an annual ceremony in June.
Colonial Williamsburg’s Leslie Doiron Clark, Michael C. Durling, Jorin Hood and Charles White, with Paul Schutte told the story of 18th-century global trade and manufacturing using a puppet rat named Maggie.
Maggie and her friends voyaged on going from England to the colonies in a video targeted at fourth- through eighth-graders and broadcast across the country on participating TV stations and cable channels.
This is not the first time one of the Electronic Field Trips – which are supported by lesson plans and other teacher and student materials through Colonial Williamsburg’s History Education Resources Online library – has taken home an Emmy. The programs have earned 13 other awards since 2005.
Some of those Emmys recognized the production’s audio or its ability to interact with the audience. In addition to watching the video, students participating in Electronic Field Trips during the live broadcast have the chance to engage with the program through social media, on online message boards and by phone.
Jim Bradley, communications manager for Colonial Williamsburg, said the production allows the foundation to reach about 2.5 million students each year, considerably more than the 160,000 who visit annually on school and other educational trips.
Captivating individuals early in life makes for a longstanding connection to the institution. Bradley said many of the adults who visit on multiple occasions credit their devotion to their first experience coming as a child, whether with a school group or family.
“If we can create another kind of memory or make an impression on a school-aged student, the hope is they may remember that as they become adults and come here in person,” he said, adding the Electronic Field Trips also speak to the foundation’s larger mission of educating and creating better citizens everywhere.
To watch “The Global Economy” or learn more about Electronic Field Trips, click here.
