Nancy Yerian, a member of AmeriCorps Ohio History Service Corps at the Freedom Center, received 40 applications from students in the greater Cincinnati area for the Youth Docent Program.
“I was definitely impressed that they were the two students that came from furthest away in the applicant pool this year,” Yerian said of Myers and Weatherwax. “I’m very excited … that students from Oxford are interested in this program in Cincinnati. We were planning on accepting 20 (students), and expanded the program to accept 25.”
The willingness of the Talawanda students to frequently make the drive to Cincinnati stood out to Yerian, and demonstrated their strong interest in the content and their dedication to promoting the museum’s mission of freedom.
“It’s kind of like a training to be a tour guide at the Freedom Center,” Weatherwax said. “I wanted to apply so I could become a better leader. I felt like if I became a tour guide there I could help educate people about the topics they focus on.”
Students will learn to teach others about the history of slavery, the Underground Railroad, and modern day slavery.
“Our youth docent program is really to allow teenagers and high school students to get to know the material we teach at the Freedom Center,” Yerian said.
The first meeting of their three-month orientation and training period took place on Nov. 23. At the meeting, the students learned more about their role with the NURFC through next fall. Each student will have a service period in which they spend six hours at the Freedom Center each month for about six months, said Yerian. The youth docents will interact with museum patrons and have the opportunity to teach the material.
Once they are trained, the students will give tours, interact with people visiting the museum, and put the material out into the world. Through the program, the youth docents will develop communication and leadership skills, as well as a greater understanding of the material.
To apply, the students had to have a recommendation letter from a teacher and had to write an essay about why they wanted to be accepted.
“I find it pretty interesting, the way it goes back to other subjects. They’re all connected,” Weatherwax said of his passion for history.
Weatherwax aspires to be a police officer and believes the leadership skills he learns through the Youth Docent Program will help him in the future.
“It’s a really good program,” he said. “The topics they cover vary from the Underground Railroad to human rights, and that stuff is really important.”
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