Collins Academy is currently recruiting volunteers and co-sponsors to support Junior Historians at Jefferson High School and Jefferson Junior High School. While encouraging the exploration and documentation of state and local history, the Jefferson Junior Historian Program will create opportunities for students to learn research techniques, critical inquiry, analytical reading, writing, critical thinking, and debate skills.

One of the major objectives of the program is to encourage chapter members to research a topic on state or local history and to record their findings in a research project. Cross-curricular applications arise in the varied options for project presentation. Students may choose a project category according to their abilities and interests: the collection of oral histories, individual historical paper, individual or group exhibit, individual or group performance, individual or group web site, or individual or group documentary.

Collins Academy is now searching for interested adults, especially history buffs and history teachers, to constitute the necessary volunteer support network. Alumni of the original Jefferson Junior Historians are sought. A cosponsor may be either a teacher or a lay person interested in community history. The co-sponsor is a key person in the chapter organization as he or she performs many support services such as planning meetings, planning student projects, arranging field trips, and contacting human resources.  If you are interested in participating as a volunteer, cosponsor or donor, please contact Gary Endsley or Kari Dickson at (903) 665-2900 or drop by Collins Academy at 500 E. Broadway in Jefferson during normal work hours.