The AMp

#Eduham Makes History a Reality for Low Income Students

Written by Vocalo Radio on April 10, 2019

Lois MacMillan is a Master Teacher with the Gilder Lerhman Institute of American History, a Grammy award-winning educator, and the Senior Education Fellow for the Hamilton Education Program – better known as #Eduham.

#Eduham is a partnership with the producers of the hit musical Hamilton to encourage students to learn about the Founding Era in which the musical is set. The incentive? $10 tickets to the hottest musical in the U.S. The offer is open only to Title I high school students in select cities, including Chicago.

To date, that program has engaged over 10,000 Chicago Public School students and teachers from Chicago’s lowest income high schools in learning about America’s founding period, and the arts.

The program is largely made possible by teachers like MacMillan, who has made it her mission to leave a lasting and educational impact on the thousands of students who attend.

Jill got to speak to Lois after a recent performance of Hamilton at the CIBC Theatre in Chicago’s Loop about the program, educating through music, and that Grammy.

“We bring about 2,300 to 2,500 students to each matinée,” said MacMillan during an interview after the program’s 75th matinée. “Every kid that walks in the door has skin in the game. They’ve done the curriculum… from the Founding Era, they have learned how to analyze a primary document and then they have to create an individual performance piece based on [something] from the Founding Era.”

MacMillan said the program has been a “game changer” for educators who have long been trying to find a way to bring such a faraway era to life for students. She has found that the performance and the lessons leading up to it all types of learning styles.

“It’s just a different way for kids to learn and they really embrace history this way.”

Listen to the full interview below!