TCMS students on the 8th-grade MERIT team recently visited Andersonville National Historic Site as part of their unit study of the Civil War. Students took a ranger-led tour of the prison site and learned about the life, and causes of death, of the prisoners held there. The camp was originally built to house 10,000 Union soldiers, but when prisoner exchanges broke down between sides and the Confederate capital fell, the prison held as many as 33,000 prisoners at one time. Conditions, including overcrowding, poor diet, and sanitation led to over 13,000 deaths. The ranger had students perform an experiment, simulating the passage of deadly diseases in such close quarters. Students were also able to tour the Prisoner of War museum on site. Cody Johnson, an 8th-grade student said, "Seeing the site helped me better understand what the prisoners went through and their living conditions. I can't believe people actually survived this place."

Pictured below in the first image is Brooke Lancaster and Kristina Bristow Kennedy taking notes as they tour the museum.  In the second image is Daviyon Johnson, Brooke Lancaster, David Harlow, and Park Guide Ryan O'Connell as they perform an experiment using goggles, aprons, and gloves to simulate passing a disease from one to the other using chemicals.