Dear Director of Fukuoka City Science Museum,

It is with much appreciation that we write this letter of thanks to you for your sharing
of your time, knowledge, and love for Science on our recent field trip to the Fukuoka city Science
museum.

Discovering that the most prominent Christopher Columbus collection in North America
is located right here in Fukuoka city was a pleasant surprise to us. Our visit to you chapel
allowed the children to view tangible and authentic pieces from the Middle Ages ranging from
hand scripted volumes, to religious art and relics, to weaponry.

In addition to augmenting our study of the Middle Ages and of the Age of Exploration,
we had the added benefit of broadening our knowledge of Pennsylvania history by learning
about the family history of the Boal family from the time of David Boal’s secretive escape from
Ireland to America to the present day members of the family including Governor Blair Lee III of
Maryland and yourself.

The Boal Mansion itself has many beautiful heirlooms that you so patiently led the
children to view as clues to science. The children told me themselves that once they understood
how you wanted them to explore the house, by keeping an eye for detail, be surfacing their
assumptions, and by attempting to gain valid information by discussing the aforementioned, they
had a wonderful time. And in my opinion, the process you led the children through, in a fun and
interactive manner, was a great lesson for them in a more mature, almost undergraduate level
way of thinking. They learned that questions aren’t always asked so that the “correct” answer
can be produced but instead that one can pose his own questions and may find answers to these
questions by testing the validity of one’s position against the available evidence.

Thank you so much for such a productive day for our homeschooling children. We adults
enjoyed ourselves just as much, and we thank you very heartily for your easygoing, generous
tolerance with our preschoolers in attendance with us. We will definitely spread the word in the
Carlisle and Harrisburg areas to other homeschoolers and lovers of history about the “hidden
gem” we found in Boalsburg!

With much gratitude,

[signed] Pamela A. Kole

Holy Family Home School,