School Tours

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School Tours

Scheduling a Visit

To schedule a school tour of Trail End, please phone either Cynde or Sharie at 307-674-4589, three weeks or more in advance. Be prepared to supply the following information:

	Name of school or group
	Contact name, address and telephone number
	Grade level and/or ages of students
	Number of students and adults
	Preferred date and time for visit
	Secondary choice for date and time

At the time you call, we will attempt to confirm your tour. Since we are not always able to do so, however, we will confirm as soon as possible.

Tour Times

Trail End is open seven days a week from March 1st through December 14th. We are available for tours between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (meaning the last tour of the day would start at 3:00). Because the house is open to the general public, it is better to schedule school tours during the quieter morning hours whenever possible.

Fees

School groups are allowed to tour Trail End at no charge. A limited number of adult chaperones will also be admitted free of charge. Unfortunately, home-schooled groups are not included in this fee waiver at this time. Anyone eighteen years of age and older accompanying home-schooled students will have to pay the regular entrance fee.

State Standards

A visit to Trail End provides an enriching cultural experience for all its visitors. A school tour of the Trail End State Historic Site, including the house and the grounds, can help your classes meet a number of Wyoming standards and benchmarks in Social Studies, Language Arts, Career/Vocational Education, Science and Mathematics. Teachers are encouraged to be creative in thinking of ways to make a visit to Trail End a fun and educational part of their teaching plan.

Site Educational Program

Trail End's award-winning "Home Is Where the History Is" educational resource program, along with our "Eyes On the Past" program, is full of ways to make a visit to Trail End not only fun, but educational for students and teachers alike. Each exercise, reading and activity is tied to one or more state standards. Materials can be used in the classroom either before or after a visit to the museum.

Guided Tours

Trail End has a limited pool of docents – trained educational tour guides – and staff members to assist with school tours. We will make every attempt to have one docent assigned to every eight students in your class.

Teacher-Led Tours

Although we try to make guides available for every tour, this is not always possible. Teachers and aides may be required to conduct tours themselves. We don't expect teacher-guides to have as much basic Trail End knowledge as our trained docents. With the right information, however, anyone – parent, teacher or student – can give a fun and informative tour. We've prepared a "cheat sheet" that provides a room-by-room guide to giving a meaningful tour.

Group Limits & Adult Chaperones

Trail End can accommodate up to forty-eight students at a time. If you are trying to schedule a visit for more than forty-eight students and cannot send them on two separate days, please consider the following options:

	Have half your students at Trail End while the other half visits another local historic site. After an hour, switch groups, having the first go to the other historic site while the second group comes to Trail End. This may require more than one bus.
	Arrange for half of your students to play a supervised game or sport on the Trail End grounds while the other half tours the house; switch after an hour. We have several croquet sets available on-site, and can conduct a brief session on the etiquette of croquet and its place in the pantheon of early Twentieth Century games.
	Send half your students to the Carriage House Theatre to view a PowerPoint program on the Kendrick Family while the other half tours the house; switch after an hour.

The above arrangements must be made prior to your visit to the historic site. Each half-class must still be divided into the smaller groups of eight students or less, with the corresponding number of adults (see below).

Because of Wyoming State Fire Marshal restrictions, your class must be divided into small groups prior to your arrival at Trail End. Each of the smaller groups, containing no more than eight students, must be accompanied by two adults: one tour guide (usually provided by Trail End) and one adult chaperone (age eighteen or older, provided by the school). Plan on dividing your class as follows:

STUDENTS	TOUR GUIDES	CHAPERONES
1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40 41-48	1 2 3 4 5 6	1 2 3 4 5 6

No entrance fee will be charged for guides and chaperones accompanying educational groups on tours of the Trail End State Historic Site. We must, however, limit the number of adults to two per group. Extra adults will have to pay the entrance fee.

If your class numbers change prior to the tour, please contact us immediately so that we can plan accordingly. Also, please adjust the number of guides and chaperones accordingly.

If your class contains special needs students that need full-time adult supervision, please make sure that there are enough adults in attendance to act as both supervisors and chaperones. These adults will be admitted without charge.

Student Preparation

Please prepare students for a museum visit by discussing the following:

	Trail End is a public place and the students need to use their public manners; running and yelling are not allowed inside the museum.
	Food, candy, gum and beverages (including bottled water) are not allowed inside the museum.
	Flash photography is not allowed inside the museum. Video cameras are allowed.
	Please remind students that touching the fabrics and woodwork is not allowed because of the damage the dirt and oils on their hands can do to the historic finishes.
	Ask students to please be attentive, listen to their tour guide, and raise their hands if they have questions.
	Lunches, backpacks and other items must be deposited either on the front porch or in the Foyer.
	In case of inclement weather, students will be asked to remove their shoes as they enter the house. Bare feet, however, are not allowed, so it is recommended that students wear socks.

Bus Parking

Except for vehicles bearing officially-issued handicapped stickers, there is no parking on site grounds for either buses or private vehicles. Please ask your bus driver to park on either Victoria or Delphi Streets. Please do not have the bus enter either the east or west circular drives.

Accessibility

A wheelchair ramp is located on the west side of the Kendrick Mansion, as are two handicapped parking spaces. Although an elevator runs from the basement to the third floor, be advised that it will not accommodate some full-sized adult wheelchairs or specialty wheelchairs.

Entrance

Please lead your students to Trail End's front door, located on the east side of the house. If you have students requiring handicapped access, they may enter (with adult supervision), through the west door (located between Trail End and the Carriage House).