National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame offering variety of educational resources and programming during 2025-26 academic year
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is offering a wide range of educational resources and programming throughout the 2025-26 academic year.
From on-site field trips to in-person classroom visits to digital courses, the Museum has numerous learning and engagement opportunities at all grade levels for schools and teachers throughout the Capital Region and beyond.
Health, History, and Horses Tours now available for more grade levels
The Museum’s Health, History, and Horses tour is now open and available for grades 3-12 and college classes. This excursion takes students to Saratoga Race Course’s historic Oklahoma Training Track to learn about the rich history of thoroughbred racing. Students get the chance to see live racehorses in action as they go through morning workouts. After the tour, visit the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame for a special private screening of our signature film, What It Takes: Journey to the Hall of Fame.
Tour dates: Available through Oct. 31. The program will then resume May 1, 2026. Click here for more information or to book at tour for your group: https://racingmuseum.org/education/health-history-and-horses
Field trip experiences across subjects
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame offers structured field trip experiences covering a number of engaging topics. From history to science to the arts, our Museum has the resources to make your day extra special. Our experienced educators can customize programming that fits your educational needs and goals. Every visit to the Museum includes a private screening of our signature film. We also offer the Horsing Around tour, made just for young learners, with hands-on activities that engage and educate.
Click here for more information or to book at tour for your group:
Health, History, and Horses | National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
Digital learning courses
The Museum offers a growing library of digital learning packets, completely free, for teachers to use in their classrooms. Current course offerings include:
- On Track to Change: How 20th Century America Shaped Thoroughbred Racing
- From Track to Trench: Civil War on the Turf
These courses take the form of downloadable PDF packets containing structured lesson plans and in-classroom activities, designed to integrate seamlessly into established curriculum. To see our digital courses, or to download the packets for your classroom, head to this page on our website: Digital Learning Courses | National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
Readers Up returns with new books!
The Museum’s Readers Up program, sponsored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, is back for the 2025-26 academic year. Choose from one of six exciting stories, and we’ll send you enough copies of that book for your whole class to read and enjoy. Then, when you’re ready, Museum educators will visit your classroom or perform an online Zoom program with authentic Museum items and artifacts that tie into the book you just read. This program is completely free to all schools and educational organizations.
In addition to our usual slate of books, this year, we’ve added two new tales to enjoy:
• Get a sneak peek into farm life with Pony Parade, a Sky View Farm Adventure, by Angelina Natale, with illustrations by Jess Bircham.
• Meet a baby foal named Polly in Polly and the Birth Day, by D.H. Anderson, with illustrations by Steven Lester.
Returning books include:
• The Long Shot, by Chris Carpenter, with illustrations by Dave Papa
• Abella and the Almost Racehorse, by Zane Carson Carruth
• Jim Dandy: A Dark Horse on a Dark Day, by Maddy Zanetti, with illustrations by Gretchen Louise Tisch
• The Jockey and Her Horse, a novel, by Sarah Maslin Nir and Raymond White, Jr.
Reservations are now available for every book in the Readers Up program. Books are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested in participating in the Readers Up program, check out this page on our website: Readers Up! | National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
Coming soon …
• Win, Place, Show: The Annual Student Art Exhibition will begin accepting artwork submissions soon. Here are some key dates:
Dec. 3, 2025 — Submissions open for student artwork for grades 3-12
Feb. 1, 2026 — Submissions close for grades 3-7
Feb. 14, 2026 — The grades 3-7 exhibition opens at the Museum
March 15, 2026 — The grades 3-7 exhibition closes and submission period for grades 8-12 closes
March 28, 2026 — The grades 8-12 exhibition opens
April 26, 2026 — The grades 8-12 exhibition closes
• Beginning Feb. 9, 2026, the Museum will begin accepting applications for the annual Rodion Cantacuzene Scholarship Award. High school seniors located in Saratoga County will be eligible for this award when the application period opens up next year. The application period closes April 23, 2026, and the winner will be announced in late May/early June.
For more information about the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, including upcoming events, please visit racingmuseum.org or call (518) 584-0400.
