During the first six months of 2011, Museum Without Walls partnered with three Seattle-area churches (Bethany Presbyterian, Emerald City Bible Fellowship, and Japanese Presbyterian) to provide middle and high school youth group students with three training days on the history of Seattle, issues of racism, and the civil rights movement. The Saturday events were in preparation for a joint youth group mission trip serving Seattle ministries.

After tackling the history of the civil rights movement and African American experience in Seattle, and exploring the International District and Japanese American internment camp experience, the final day gave students the opportunity to learn about and visit key cultural and historical locations in Seattle, Amazing Race-style.

Emerald City Bible Fellowship was the morning starting line and teams of students raced out the doors with their first clue.

Over the course of the day, students visited such places as the memorial park for assassinated civil rights leader, Ed Pratt; the Chief Seathl statue in Belltown; catching a fish at Pike’s Place Market; Ft Lawton Military Cemetery; Colman School and NW African American Museum. Teams struck up conversations with Real Change Homeless Newspaper vendors and heard stories of life on the streets of Seattle.

Students navigated the maze of pipes at Gasworks to complete an obstacle course for one of their final clues,

and finally ended the day at Bethany Presbyterian Church to share video and photo presentations created on the run, showing not only that they experienced the city in a new and deeper way, but that they also built community within the teams--small groups which would comprise their Seattle mission trip companions in June.