Published January 27. 2022 11:34AM
The Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor recently received donations from Weis Markets, BB&T, Waste Management, and American Bank through the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit program. These donations will help support the D&L’s innovative educational curriculum, “Tales of the Towpath,” and its virtual and in-person field trip programs. The EITC program allows businesses to apply tax credits against their tax liability for the year in which the contribution was made.
Designed to conform to fourth-grade curriculum standards, Tales of the Towpath introduces students to America’s Age of Canals and the vital role our region played in the Industrial Revolution through the fictional adventures of Finn Gorman, a young boy living and working on a canal boat in the 1850s. More than 70 area elementary schools currently participate in the program. To better serve teachers and students, the D&L completely redesigned the curriculum’s website (TalesoftheTowpath.org) this year to offer extra historical resources and activities that complement the storybook.
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the D&L is also looking forward to welcoming schools back to Tales of the Towpath-related field trips at Hugh Moore Park in Easton and the Freemansburg Canal Education Center in 2022.
During spring Immersion Days field trips to Hugh Moore Park, home of the National Canal Museum and the mule-drawn Josiah White II canal boat, young participants learn Science, Technology, Engineering and Math concepts through fun hands-on activities such as seeing how the properties of friction and buoyancy allow small teams of fourth-graders to pull the 48-ton canal boat.