12 organizations across Connecticut now offer free and discounted K-12 civics education programs for students. * 2 hrs ago Hartford, CT, Aug. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History is pleased to announce Civics Education through Museum Enrichment (CEME) project in partnership with twelve Connecticut organizations across the state: The Democracy Center at Connecticut's Old State House, Fairfield Museum and History Center, Stowe Center for Literary Activism, Institute for American Indian Studies Museum & Research Center, Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center, Litchfield Historical Society, Mystic Seaport Museum, New Haven Museum, The American Museum of Tort Law, The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor, and The Mark Twain House & Museum. Andy Burnham promises to reform social care to help 'my dad and the millions like him' The exterior of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History in Hartford, CT. Funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the Connecticut Museum, the project offers free or discounted education programs for K-12 Connecticut students that introduce civics, community, and government to young learners through engaging and accessible activities. Over the previous 3 years, the education advocacy work of U.S. Congressman John B. Larson and the support of U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy helped launch a K-5 civics education through a smaller coalition of museums. Since 2023, these efforts allowed over 50,000 elementary school students to take part in free and discounted civics education programs. As a new project, CEME builds on past successes by supporting all grades, K-12, and adding more museum partners, while continuing to offer free civic education programs to Connecticut's Priority School Districts and Title I recipient schools. To further address obstacles to museum field trips, CEME also offers bus reimbursements to schools. "The civics education programs with participating museums and organizations across the state are a terrific way to engage students with organizations within their community and better understand the role they play in our democracy," Ilene Frank, Connecticut Museum Executive Director and CEO, said. "We are incredibly grateful to the U.S. Department of Education for funding this initiative and for our partners at the other organizations." CEME programs help eliminate barriers to civic learning and museum field trips by offering accessible opportunities for students in their area. Students of all ages can take part in hands-on learning experiences at museums they may not otherwise visit, further discovering all the civics resources they have to offer within their communities. "We are excited to be offering 64 new programs at participating sites this year, as well as in-classroom outreach programs throughout the state," Peter Moran, Project Director at the Connecticut Museum said. "Each program meets students at a level that they are at and teaches civics in an engaging, grade-appropriate way." All public, private, and homeschool K-12 classes in Connecticut are eligible to take part in CEME programs, with no application required. The programs align with the students' social studies units. To learn more about CEME, including how to book a program for your classroom, view the brochure online at connecticutmuseum.org. "Mystic Seaport Museum is thrilled to participate in the federally funded civics grant that enables Connecticut's students to experience innovative civics education at museums across the state," Sarah Cahill, Director of Education at Mystic Seaport Museum said. "The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, as the lead partner, has done a wonderful job harnessing the unique strengths of the participating Museums who have developed on-site, in-school, and virtual programming that teaches civics in a hands-on engaging manner." One of the many interactive exhibitions for students at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History. About Connecticut Museum of Culture and History The Connecticut Museum of Culture and History is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1825 as the state's premier historical society and home for folk and traditional arts support since 2015. Located in the historic West End of Hartford, the Museum houses exhibitions, a library, a research center, and a vast collection that includes more than 4 million manuscripts, graphics, objects, and artifacts. The Museum strives to cultivate deep understanding of the history and culture of Connecticut, and its role in the United States and the world, through reflection of the past, active engagement with the present, and innovation for the future through its collections, research, educational programs, and exhibitions. Press Inquiries Jamie O'Brien 860-969-6089 x101 One Elizabeth Street Hartford CT, 06105

Maritime Studies alum connects the classroom to the community. A partnership between UConn Avery Point and Mystic Seaport Museum inspired Gabriel Brisson's '26 (CLAS) future career in maritime studies. Upon his graduation from UConn Avery Point in May, Gabriel Brisson '26 (CLAS) is putting his maritime studies degree and passions to use at Mystic Seaport Museum(opens in new tab), where he has worked this summer in their archival collections and interpretation department. At his internship, Brisson supports a breadth of work that focuses on preserving local Connecticut and New England history. "I thoroughly enjoyed my classes and learning about maritime studies," says Brisson. "Working at Mystic Seaport Museum is not only important, but even more interesting." Home to over 650 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, Mystic Seaport Museum welcomes visitors, students, and scholars to preserve and interpret America's maritime experience. And, for more than 25 years, Mystic Seaport Museum and the UConn Maritime Studies Program(opens in new tab) have worked as partners. The partnership provides maritime studies majors with museum membership, allowing them to conduct research and make frequent field trips, according to Mary K. Bercaw Edwards(opens in new tab), professor of English and former director of the Maritime Studies Program. "To UConn's benefit, we get access to the museum and its resources, and to the museum's benefit, we have student and faculty experts in various aspects of maritime culture to draw upon when putting together programs or hiring," says Bercaw Edwards, who serves as part of the museum's interpretation department during the summer. As a leader in preserving historic American maritime materials, Mystic Seaport Museum has had to adapt to the rise in digital content from historic collections. As those digital materials continue to grow, long-term preservation has become central to the museum's work. "Knowing that the work I do is making history accessible and helping so many researchers is rewarding," says Brisson. When he is in the Collections Research Center, Brisson organizes and prepares files and documents for storage. From transcripts to manuscripts to historical interviews about New England maritime history, he digitizes materials so they can be easily accessed online. Ensuring that every digital material is organized correctly and easily accessible in the database is a meticulous but crucial part of that work, Brisson says. The online database benefits researchers, educators, and students, as all of this historical information is available for research and discovery through Mystic Seaport Museum. When he is not sorting through a variety of historical documents, Brisson can be found on the front lines of Mystic Seaport Museum as an interpreter for various exhibits. "From Brickwrecks(opens in new tab) to Monstrous(opens in new tab) to my personal favorite, the Charles W. Morgan(opens in new tab), I'm talking with visitors about our exhibits and research, while being able to answer any questions," he says. Brisson says his CLAS education thoroughly prepared him to step into this role of working directly with the public. While Brisson was completing a wide range of interdisciplinary coursework, the history courses he took at Avery Point focused on maritime studies, sparking an interest that led him to change his major. As he continued studying maritime history and building on the skills he gained through classes and hands-on experiences, one course stood out because it connected him directly to Mystic Seaport Museum, one of the driving forces behind his enthusiasm for his major and field. "I took a course called Sailors' Skills for the Interpretation of the Maritime Humanities, where I learned knot tying, identifying ships, rigging, and other aspects of seafaring. At the end of the semester, we spent a week sailing aboard the schooner Brilliant,(opens in new tab)" says Brisson. Brisson's time at sea inspired him to pursue a maritime archaeology track, and the partnership gives maritime studies students hands-on opportunities to apply what they learn at Mystic Seaport Museum. "We're interested in offering the experiential side of learning, and this partnership has an impact on students because of the materiality of everything," says Edwards. "They can read about what it's like to be a sailor or what happens with fisheries or the effect of climate change on the world's oceans. But when they go to the museum, where they can try pulling on lines or laying out trawl lines for fish, it's just a great hands-on experience." Several UConn Avery Point professors also work at the museum, giving students access to expertise and experience they would not get in a classroom. These connections have proved valuable for Brisson. Since graduating, he has worked alongside familiar faces like Bercaw Edwards while gaining hands-on experience in the place that first sparked his interest in maritime studies. The internship has also deepened Brisson's interest in archiving, a skill he hopes to continue developing in his future career. For Bercaw Edwards, that is exactly why partnerships like this matter. "I was inspired by Gabe's intellectual curiosity and his genuine interest in things. I was very excited when he wanted to do this internship," she says. "When I see stories like Gabe's, it always makes me happy because students get to our campus and then they take a general education course and suddenly are like, 'Wow, this is really cool,' and they see all the things that can be done with maritime studies."