School Outreach
Every year the ASC gives tours of its facilities and presentations to school groups upon request. It is particularly popular with elementary school groups where presentations may often meet curriculum requirements. If a tour isn’t feasible, in class presentations are also possible.
This summer, the Archaeological Mystery class taught by Mike Newland for SSU’s EXCEL Program for Youth was well attended and received great reviews from both students and parents.Each year a new mystery is presented; after four years, the mystery’s repeat—a student starting in 6th grade can a different mystery each year until they graduate in 9th grade from the class.Mike’s two TA’s, 
Shelby DeMello and Denise Frazier started when they were in 6th grade and are now juniors in high school.This year the students studied a mystery revolving around a burial recorded by Dr. Arue Madazdainthe early 1900s.The Excel students had to comb over old notes and maps, study and drawartifacts, and reconstruct the stratigraphy and site structure of a Patwin village site. The presented their findings at an end of the class symposium.
Some Past Activities & Events
In June 2003, seven students from Michael Newland’s July 2002 Excel class participated in a weekend volunteer excavation at Fort Ross. The students, in addition to their excavation responsibilities, spent the night within the fort, went for hike to a nearby rock shelter site, and participated in a short geomorphology exercise about a buried midden in the nearby cove. The San Francisco Chronicle ran a very complimentary article on the excavation and the Excel Program a few weeks later.
Read the San Francisco Chronicle's article about kids taking part in the Fort Ross excavation here.
Back in 2003, Michael Newland visited the Coyote Valley Elementary School to give a presentation about Sir Francis Drake, which got a big write up in the local newspaper.
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letters from school children...