BILLINGS — Nearly 800 seventh graders from around southeast Montana will participate in the week-long 16th annual Back to the Future with Lewis and Clark - Technology Then and Now event being held at City College at Montana State University Billings.
The event features hands-on learning highlighting Lewis and Clark's expedition with eight classes, including military purposes of the expedition, daily activities, medications used and the importance of bison.
Judy Foster, one of the partners who run the event, said the students seem to enjoy traveling back in time.
"I really love the reaction of the students... They tell me such things as 'thanks for having us' or 'thanks for teaching us this'," Foster said.
The classes are led by teachers, engineers, a sign-language instructor, surveyors, a doctor, a veterinarian and wildlife specialists. Each class lasts 30 minutes and every day of the week sees around 150 students.
The seventh graders also get a taste of the food Lewis and Clark ate during their journey.
"Every year they really enjoy the soup," Foster said.
Foster and her partner John Pulasky have enjoyed sharing their knowledge of the expedition throughout the 16 years the event has ran.
This event is sponsored by the nonprofit Our Montana Inc. and was first held in 2006 as part of a public relations effort to increase attendance to Pompey's Pillar National Monument.
