Cate McGinnis Wyatt dedicated herself to the Journey Through Hallowed Ground initiative when she realized the 175-mile region from Monticello to Gettysburg represented more American history than any other region in the country.

When she hired Angela Stokes to be director of education programs, Cate began to build the foundation for a legacy of appreciation that only exists when generations of young people understand, are thoroughly engaged and feel responsible for an endeavor.

Stokes, a 13-year veteran of the Albermarle County Public School System where she was honored as a Gifted Resource Teacher, had been working with at risk students and had been remarkably successful when she introduced them to authentic learning situations they could influence.

"We were worried that we were not doing enough for truly gifted students," Angela said. "We wanted to create a program for gifted students that encouraged civic responsibility and was based in the humanities."

"When I saw an article about The Journey Through Hallowed Ground, I telephoned Cate to see if they would partner with us. She was very enthusiastic about creating a program, and now, at the conclusion of our second summer program, I have the exciting opportunity to help students understand, take ownership and act on the history that surrounds us on The Journey."

Angela's goal meshed perfectly with the mission of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground.

"We want to partner with enterprises, organizations and individuals who can derive economic or educational benefit from an association with us," Wyatt explained. "There are tremendous opportunities to work together in ways that support both preservation and economic development."

"By investing in our cultural heritage, we'll create attractive destinations that support the economies of every county in the four JTHG states that are our partners. By working together, we can elevate this amazing region to the world status it so rightly deserves."

Formed ten years ago as a partnership of national, regional and grassroots organizations working collaboratively, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground partnership is focused on establishing this area as a land of leadership, a land of conflict and reunification and a place of national beauty and rural character.

Today, the initiative includes more than 150 national, regional and local partners and, from its offices above the post office in Waterford, Virginia, orchestrates research, awareness, destination marketing and education outreach programs like the summer sessions directed by Angela Stokes.

"By being associated with JTHG, we were offered the opportunity to really customize and expand our programs," Angela said. "For instance, we had amazing flexibility when we wanted to focus on characteristics of leadership. We worked closely with reenactors who so accurately impersonate presidents, citizens and slaves that our students are totally captivated by the challenges faced by our founders who lived in this amazing historic heritage area."

Stokes believes that connecting students with authentic people whose lives reflect the difficulty and challenges of historic times helps them understand how to use their education to be better citizens in the 21st century.

Angela's determination to teach young people that they have ownership of and responsibility for this historic area is a powerful asset in the Journey's portfolio. And Cate understands precisely how important this is for the future of the organization.

"What Angela is creating with our education program is invaluable, and she's a tremendous visionary," Cate said proudly.

Stokes was at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics where Director Larry Sabato started the influential and highly regarded Youth Initiative. It was in this program she learned how to start a program from scratch and build it to national prominence.

"Civic responsibility and stewardship start with personal understanding of the origin of issues," Stokes said. "We were confident that, if we could get kids outside in the summer in this truly beautiful region, we'd get their attention."

In 2006, the two-week education program began in Albermarle County. This year, Loudoun County was added, and the hope is that every one of the counties partnering with JTHG will soon have a summer program of their own.

In the reflections of a student who participated this year, one quickly understands how effective the program is:

"...The anticipation built as the paddles sliced through the cool waters of the Potomac. 'We had rhythm now. Instead of moving forward in concentric circles, students cut a straight swath down the river to the bluff, Balls Bluff. Our mission was to shore up on the same bank the Union troops treaded upon on the afternoon of October 21st, 1861. 'Once docked, we loaded our backs with supplies and prepared for a march up the forbidding ridge to take the Confederates by surprise. Everything paralleled the fateful Ball's Bluff battle except the howitzers and hard tack were replaced with i-Pods, journals and nalgene water bottles.'

Participating students who must be on the bus by 7 a.m. every day of the two-week Extreme Journey Through Hallowed Ground visit seven historic sites and meet many experts as they hike, bike and paddle from Gettsyburg to Ash Lawn. Archaeologists, architects, authors and National Park Rangers who participate with re-enactors during the sessions set the historic contexts vividly and pose questions that put the students in the decision maker's seat:

"My trusted advisor, Frederick Douglass, just abandoned my plan to attack Harpers Ferry. Would you proceed without him if you were John Brown?" Or…

"I have limited time and supplies and cannot treat everyone on this battlefield." What would you do if you were Clara Barton?

Once the challenges of leadership have been posed in a historic context, the students are expected to consider and propose how these situations and decision demands translate in the contemporary world.

"We expect them to create original vodcasts and podcasts using photographs, video and sound recordings captured on site with the i-Pods, video and digital cameras JTHG provides," Stokes explained. "They use GarageBand software for special effects and original music, and the videos they create are truly spectacular."

The videos may be viewed at www.hallowedground.org.

Several student vodcasts featured a quote from Clara Barton that they heard as they walked across the corn field at Antietam: "The door that nobody else will go in, seems always to swing open widely for me."

Both Cate Wyatt and Angela Stokes understand that real leaders take the initiative to turn that door handle. And both are doing everything in their power to give these students the confidence and knowledge they will need, to do precisely that.

By learning these lessons on the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, they will not forget the significance of the region where emerging leaders struggled to shape a new country.

For information on the 2008 summer programs and the new Summer Scholars project in which one student applicant from each partner county will be awarded a full summer scholarship, please visit www.hallowedground.org.