No matter what field trip program you choose, Mount Vernon is pleased to announce that you and your students can now explore George Washington's character and accomplishments in more depth than ever by visiting the new Ford Orientation Center and Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, which opened in late 2006. Entrance to both of these sites is included with General Student Admission.  Please review our Teachers' Guide to the Reynolds Education Center and our Orientation and Education Centers Map for more information.

At the beginning of your visit, the Ford Orientation Center will give your students a preview of the Mount Vernon experience while introducing them to "the real George Washington."  An 18-minute "Hollywood-style" action-adventure film, George Washington: "We Fight to be Free," will reveal the charismatic first American hero and some of the events that defined his leadership and character.

Featuring 23 interactive gallery and theater experiences illuminating Washington's military, presidential, and entrepreneurial contributions, the Donald W. Reynolds Education Center will engage students in the discovery of Washington's remarkable achievements in the founding of our nation.

Students will interact with Washington's life story through the use of LED map displays, dynamic graphics, surround-sound audio programs, "immersion" videos, illusionist lighting effects, and touch-screen computer monitors.  They will also see the most lifelike representations ever created of Washington as a 19-year old surveyor, a 45-year-old Revolutionary War general, and the 57-year-old first President of the United States.  An entire gallery is devoted to showing visitors the research and science behind creating these figures.

Finally, the dynamic Hands-on-History room gives Mount Vernon’s very youngest visitors (ages 3-8) a chance to explore the same themes and ideas presented in the galleries by dressing in 18th-century clothing, putting on stage plays and puppet shows, reading picture books, assembling puzzles, investigating activity boxes, furnishing a Mount Vernon dollhouse, listening to the sounds of Washington’s farm animals, and more!

Remember to allow a minimum of four hours to visit both the Mount Vernon Estate and the new Ford Orientation Center and Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center!