The California History Bee

Museums
'Bee' a County Sponsor

Each county would have one lead organization that would be responsible for:

1. Answering questions from participants and schools in their county

2. Soliciting donations and/or prizes, or funding prize monies/prizes for the winners in their respective counties. That would mean a first, second, and third place winner for each of the following categories: K-4, 5-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Keep in mind that there may be ties and you might need more prizes accordingly. As an example, the Folsom History Museum awards $50 for first prize winners, $25 for second prize winners, and $10 for third prize winners. The Museum’s bank generally funds the monetary prizes. Other prizes include things like history books, games, theatre or skating tickets, etc.

What's in it for you?

First, this is a great way to get lots of public recognition for no cost and probably a maximum of 30 hours volunteer work per year.

Last year the Folsom History Museum got a full page article about the History Bee in The Sacramento Bee newspaper.

Second, more visibility leads to more museum visitors, gift shop purchases, and patron support.

And, if you have the means, you can raise some funds directly by offering The Gold Rush multimedia CD through your museum.

You'll make up to $14/program. Contact us for details.

Third, you'll be part of an innovative program that helps children and families learn more about California's history and culture so they will protect it for future generations.

The Nuts and Bolts

When you become a sponsor you will receive, via email, a small manual that you can print for reference in your museum. That way volunteers will have information about The California History Bee at their fingertips if teachers or parents inquire about the program.

In addition, there are some other things that we'll encourage you to do as a county sponsor.

1 Create a press release (we'll send you samples) that you send to all media in your local area helping get out the word about The History Bee.

2. Contact your county's Office of Education, and as many individual schools as possible, and inform them of the California History Bee. Encourage their teachers to get them involved.

To make this step easy, you can use the press release mentioned above as the material you send by mail or email once you've identified interested parties. You can also refer them to this website or feel free to copy the details from here to your own website if you'd rather.

3. If it fits in your budget, carry a few of the Prep Programs in your gift shop or simply have them available through your museum. You have the opportunity to make these fundraisers for your organization. Call 800-989-8112 for more details.

4. As local businesses or individuals (this is great at Rotary, Chamber or other functions), to "Adopt a School" by buying one or more of the Gold Rush multimedia CD programs and giving them to a school(s). You can take this concept even further and look for grant money to provide larger quantities of the programs to the schools for greater involvement.

5. Solicit local businesses to donate prizes. Your operations manual will have a list of the kinds of places that are good to ask.

6. Verify winners in your county. We'll provide you with a spreadsheet with our tally of winning scores for your county. You must then contact their schools or homes via their email addresses, and inform them that they've won. You will also let them know that they qualify for the State Finals and you'll guide them on how to prepare.

7. Schedule an awards ceremony for the county winners. Send press releases to the media and be sure to call your local media a couple of days ahead of the ceremony to encourage them to send a reporter to cover the event.

8. We'll inform you if any of your winners qualify for the State Finals so you can encourage them to study for it. We'll notify you if your winners make it to the top 10 at the State level. If so, we'd encourage you to accompany them to their live competition in Sacramento. We'll give you the details if and when necessary.

Click Here to Take a Virtual Tour of the Museum  

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Days and times subject to change without notification.
Admission: $4 for adults. $2 for youth. Children under 12 are FREE.
Parking: parking available in front and across the street from the Museum
Address:  823 Sutter St., Folsom, CA, 95630-2440 Get directions from MapQuest. 916.985-2707
Easy access from Light Rail and Bike Trail

A special thanks to CalWeb for hosting this website.