Pittsburgh students get free history lesson

For the rest of the year teachers in the Pittsburgh Public School District and any charter schools in the city will be able to take their students to the Senator John Heinz History Center for free. The invitation is only for school organized field trips. The decision affects about 28,300 students in district schools. In recent years the number of Pittsburgh students that have been coming to the History Center has been falling and History Center President Andy Masich says this offer will help lower at least one barrier. He says this is also great way to celebrate the city’s 250th anniversary. Region-wide, the History Center annually draws about 35,000 students on school-sponsored trips but Masich says they cannot waive the $5.00 fee for all the kids and still keep the budget in the black. The district hopes to bring every third and ninth grader to the history center. Those classes are studying subjects that most closely fits with the materials at the history center.