Summer Programs with Katie

Hi! My name is Katie, and I was the Summer Programmer this year at the museum! Along with helping to care for the museum and our guests, my primary responsibility was running this year's Heritage Thursdays program.

This year, I completed university and became a certified teacher. I have been working as a substitute teacher since February in both Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows and Langley school districts, and I wanted a job to do over summer break. Since my experience is in both history and education, I hoped to find something along those lines, and when I saw the job posting on Pitt Meadows Museum Facebook page, I couldn't believe what a perfect fit it was!

Though I'm someone who enjoys doing arts and crafts in my own personal time, I was still a little nervous going in, as my teaching experience has been primarily with high school students, and Heritage Thursdays is a program for 6-12 year olds. I wasn't sure if I would struggle with engaging them, and I wondered how I would have to change the way I teach and give instructions to such a different and wide-ranging age group. I decided the best course of action would be to choose a theme that I knew I could teach passionately, and a diverse set of crafts that could be adjusted to different skill levels – the rest would fall into place.

I ended up settling on the theme "Ancient Adventures", as I've always loved ancient history but had little opportunity to teach it. Additionally, the theme of ancient civilizations would also allow kids to "travel around the world" and explore the roots of many different cultures, which I believe there is a lot of value in. Though we only had 6 sessions, I managed to cover 8 different ancient civilizations: the Ancient Egyptians, Inca, Maya, Aztecs, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, and Indus Valley peoples.

Once the sessions began, I was immediately relieved to find that the kids that registered for the program this year were eager to learn and to create things with their hands. Each session followed a similar structure: I'd start with a quiet individual activity that kids could work on independently until everyone arrived, then I'd give a short presentation on the ancient civilization we would learn about that day. We'd then do one craft inside, move outside for snacks and recess, and stay outside for a couple more crafts or activities. This helped establish a routine for the kids that was both educational and fun, incorporating structure and free time.

Throughout the weeks, I had so much fun playing games and doing art projects with the kids -- so much fun in fact, I'm excited to get back to substitute teaching and try out elementary schools this time around! Some of the things we did included making cartouche necklaces like the Egyptians out of Shrinky Dinks, sculpting our own Terracotta Warriors like the ones in China with air-dry clay, and playing Pok Ta Pok like the Maya with balloons and hula hoops. I think my favourite activity was when, having learned about the Inca and their colourful dyes, we tie-dyed T-shirts and pencil cases; though this one was a lot to prepare and clean up, it was well worth it to see the excitement and joy in the kids' faces.

I had such a wonderful time both learning and being creative alongside the children, staff, and volunteers this summer, and I'm so grateful to everyone that supported me with the kids each session. Keagan, Rebekah, Laura, Laura, and Christina – thank you all so much for helping the kids, and helping me to execute my vision each week. This summer flew by so fast because I was having so much fun. Thank you Pitt Meadows Museum for putting your trust in me, it's been a pleasure!

Summer 2026.