Two Workshops Show Value of Heart Mountain Education Program
June 26, 2026
Educator workshops about the Japanese American incarceration at the Mineta-Simpson Institute attracted teachers from around the country who learned how to teach the subject through primary sources, detailed accounts and historic artifacts.
From June 14-19, 30 teachers participated in the first Maurice Walk Memorial Workshops sponsored by the Walk family foundations, and on June 22 and 23, teachers joined the Teaching Primary Sources workshop sponsored by the Library of Congress.
Sybil Kawano, Heart Mountain’s museum educator, led both programs in the Mineta-Simpson Institute conference center at Heart Mountain. Participants also toured the restored root cellar where incarcerated farmers stored their crops during World War II, the original barracks containing a recreated wartime apartment and the grounds of the hospital where most of the 556 babies born during the incarceration were delivered.
“The Walk Family Foundation has given us the ability to expand our reach and continue growing our educational resources,” Kawano said. “It’s not easy to get here. These teachers were willing to travel to Wyoming from all over the country to learn about Heart Mountain. I’m so grateful for that because they will bring this history back to their schools and school districts ensuring it is taught to the next generation.”
Along with the Walk workshops, which will be held for at least the next four years, Heart Mountain is leading a series of traveling workshops for educators as part of a Japanese American Confinement Education grant by the National Park Service. Kawano is also part of a team of Heart Mountain staff members touring Japanese universities and museums in the fall and hosting Japanese educators and museum professionals in September.
Photo: Workshop participants at the Buffalo Bill Dam west of Cody, Wyoming. The irrigation project started by William “Buffalo Bill” Cody was instrumental in the selection of Heart Mountain as a site for a Japanese American confinement site. Credit: Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation