About Voices and Votes
Voices and Votes is a traveling museum exhibit designed to help students explore the story of American democracy in an engaging and age-appropriate way. Through interactive displays, hands-on activities, and powerful stories from the past and present, students learn how people have worked over time to shape our government and expand the right to vote.
Field Trips
What to know before you book…
- Interactive tour through
Voices & Votes, learning about democracy in America.
- Educational games, engaging
critical thinking skills and encouraging civil dialogue
The exhibit encourages young learners to think about important questions such as: What does it mean to be a good citizen? How can our voices be heard? Why does voting matter? During this historic election year, it offers a meaningful opportunity to connect classroom lessons about government and civic responsibility to real-world events happening right now.
In addition to supporting social studies standards, Voices and Votes helps spark thoughtful conversations within schools and communities. This is a unique opportunity to inspire students to see themselves as future leaders, problem-solvers, and active participants in our democracy.
- Best suited for 5th –
12th grade - Each Voices and Votes field
trip (9am or 11:45am session) can accommodate up to 150 students. - If you have more than 150
students, please register for more than one field trip time slot. - Deposit of $150 required at
registration for schools outside of the Putnam County Charter School System. - $1 per student – refund or invoice to follow
depending on number of students in attendance. - ADA compliant facility.
Professional Development
Open to teachers, instructional coaches, and curriculum leaders.
Celebrate America 250 in your classroom!
Prepare your class for their visit to Voices and Votes with a FREE Professional Learning Workshop led by the Georgia Council on Economic Education.
RESOURCES
- Substitute Reimbursement
- Class-Room Ready Activities
- Lunch Provided
- Early Access to Voices and Votes
What You’ll Learn
Each session connects U.S. history content to the economic forces underneath it and participants leave with classroom-ready activities and resources they can use right away.
3rd - 5th Grades
Teachers explore how people in different regions obtained what they wanted and could not or would not make themselves by using available resources and trading with others. This lesson supports elementary history standards that emphasize how communities used their environment and interacted with others, while highlighting key economics concepts such as resources, specialization, trade, and opportunity cost. Participants leave with a classroom-ready activity that helps students explain why people traded and how trade shaped early American communities.
6th - 8th Grades
Teachers examine how new technologies and transportation expanded production and transformed how goods moved across the country. This lesson aligns to middle grades U.S. history standards focused on economic and social change over time, while connecting economics concepts like productivity, incentives, competition, and markets to the historical story. Participants use a simple simulation and primary-source-friendly visuals to show how innovations can lower costs, increase output, and shift where people live and work.
9th - 12th Grades
Teachers investigate a major turning point (such as the Great Depression era or another economic “stress test”) to analyze how individuals, businesses, and government responded to changing conditions. This lesson supports high school standards that emphasize cause-and-effect, policy decisions, and economic change, while tying in economics concepts such as unemployment, inflation, the role of institutions, and tradeoffs. Participants practice using an evidence-based discussion strategy students can use to connect historical events to economic outcomes and civic decision-making.
Workshops will be held at the Putnam County Administration Building (117 Putnam Dr. Eatonton, GA 31024).
Special thanks to our sponsor Georgia Council of Economic Education for hosting these workshops.
Thank you!
Voices and Votes: Democracy in America is a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibit awarded to Georgia Writers Museum in collaboration with Georgia Humanities. This exhibit is part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program, which provides access to the Smithsonian Institution for small-town America. Voices and Votes is sponsored by Putnam County and the Eatonton-Putnam Chamber of Commerce.
