my name is Dana Crosby Collier resident of Seminole County work in Orange County
I have been here since 2006 in 2006 I moved to Orange County when I took a job
with Orange County government and I immediately became aware of the history
center and became a member of the History Center I had a daughter who at
the time was about four years old and she began camps at the History Center
when she was about five years old and she has been with the History Center
ever since she has participated as a camper a volunteer and also often helps
on different events that the History Center holds a few years ago we attended
the John Young banquet on behalf of the History Center and she spoke at that
time about her experience with the History Center and the joy she's had in
the camps and being involved with the programs we love it here we my little
one is now 12 she also is a regular camper and will be they'll both be here
this summer a few years ago we were attending a lot of events and coming to
the exhibits and the History Center magazine did an article on our family we
have a little girl that we adopted from China nine years ago this week and we
all traveled to China and when we came back she was welcomed as part of the
family and a story was run on the the whole family and our involvement with
the History Center and especially the kids over the years that we've been
involved we've really noticed the increase in the community outreach the
camps are welcoming to kids from the surrounding community when we
participated at the John Young banquet a few years back another person who spoke
at that banquet was a teacher from a local school in the community and she
was speaking to the impacts of the History Center on her students and how
the kids can come downtown it's not far away they can get here easily they can
come they can participate in the exhibits they get to really have a
hands-on learning experience and it was just clear that the outreach to the
community at large was far greater than we had imagined in our world in the
education wing and it was and it's just been continuing to grow since that time
and the opportunities are endless for members to assist in providing extra fun
at certain time for campers to come in in the summer and again the schools the
local schools can come into the facility and enjoy the exhibits and participate
and a lot of the exhibits are hands-on and they're becoming more and more
hands-on it each year giving the kids more opportunity to live and learn in
the in the moment of history and learn more about it as though they were in
that moment my family loves history we love coming here we love the girls to
learn about it appreciate it and understand how different times were than
they are now