Monday, July 27th, 2026 | 10am - 3pm
Mountain Gateway Museum
78-C Catawba Avenue, Old Fort, NC, 28762

Apply here! Applications close on Tuesday, May 26th, 2026.

***Attending middle grades teachers will receive $100 stipend + Lunch + .5 CEUs -- Open to middle grades teachers in McDowell, Burke, Mitchell, Yancey, Rutherford, and Madison Counties. 
Join the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) for an exclusive afternoon for area middle-grades educators at Mountain Gateway Museum!

The Mountain Gateway Museum explores and celebrates the cultural history of Western North Carolina, an area spanning 38 counties from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Piedmont. When visiting the museum or utilizing it's resources, students will experience the Southern Appalachian past and learn about the people and culture that shaped the western region of North Carolina. 

Attending educators  will preview the various on-sight activities that can be offered and tailored for visiting school groups, as well as classroom outreach opportunities. Time will also be provided for attending teaches to share feedback, ideas and requests regarding what else you would like our site to offer in support of classroom learning. Attendees will also receive information about DNCR resources for educators.

Attending educators will also receive:

• A $100 stipend (upon completion of a post-event survey)
• Lunch
• .5 CEUs
• The chance to network with other educators from multiple schools across the district, as well as the opportunity to engage with DNCR/Mountain Gateway Museum staff ready to serve as a source of support for your important work in the classroom!

Priority registration will be given to middle school teachers in McDowell, Burke, Mitchell, Yancey, Rutherford, Madison, & surrounding counties but any K-12 teacher is eligible to apply. (Make sure your distance from the Museum allows you to comfortably arrive by 10 am). Don’t miss the opportunity to experience what the Mountain Gateway Museum has to offer, while also enjoying food and fellowship with amazing teaching colleagues from across the region! 
Please note that late arrivals and early departures cannot be accommodated. Before submitting an application, please check your schedule to ensure you can arrive by 10:00am and that you are able to stay until 3:00pm

Space is limited to 20 registrants; filling out this form does not guarantee your registration. Participants will be registered based on a combination of ensuring a diversity of schools and grade levels represented; the order in which your application was received per school; and your application responses and completeness. You should receive a response to your application no later than May 29th. If after May 29th you have not received a response and a message is not in your junk/spam folder, please contact us at educationoutreach@dncr.nc.gov.

CANCELLATION POLICY
DNCR is committed to providing free professional development to teachers, with not even a small fee or deposit required. However, these programs are costly to the organizers/funders. Thus, if you receive a space in this event and you find that you need to cancel at any point, it is critical to let us know immediately and no later than five days before the event by e-mailing educationoutreach@dncr.nc.gov. Last minute cancellations and "no-shows" with no communication result in waste of budget, food, materials, etc., and prevents wait listed teachers from participating. Except in the case of an emergency, if a registered teacher does not show up or communicate no longer being able to attend, your school may be billed for a $75 no-show fee.

Questions?

Contact us at educationoutreach@dncr.nc.gov

This event is funded and hosted by North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) and Friends of the Mountain Gateway Museum.