School groups are invited to tour the Museum by appointment. The exhibit galleries present opportunities to enrich the learning experience. The Museum also has a dedicated room where enrichment activities can take place. We invite teachers to plan with the Museum staff special activities that relate to their curriculum units.

History Education

The Museum has been adding to the exhibits text panels which provide an overview of Jimmy Stewart’s life and career in context with local and national history and the development of the communications and entertainment industries. Visiting students can learn to view their own lives historically—to see how one person’s life is touched by and can affect historical movements and events.

Character Education

Many of Jimmy Stewart’s film roles illustrate leadership and ethical decision-making—Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Destry Rides Again, It’s a Wonderful Life, Broken Arrow, and The Far Country, among others. In many ways his personal life also modeled good character and citizenship.

As they were leaving for college, Mr. Stewart’s twin daughters received this advice from their dad: “Be nice to people.” The Jimmy Stewart Museum likes to reinforce this important message through a program designed to encourage discussions of character values and ethics among children and adults, whether in family groups or in classes with teachers. The Museum makes available, free of charge, age-appropriate activity sheets and a list of Jimmy Stewart’s films recommended for discussions about character and ethics. Based on character education core traits defined by the U. S. Department of Education, the film list and activity sheets for grades K-5 and grades 6-12 are available in the Museum or if interested please call the Museum. Recommended films can be purchased in DVD format from the Museum Store.

The Jimmy Stewart Museum is working with the College of Education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania to develop a flexible social-studies curriculum for classroom use, based on Jimmy Stewart films.