Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Newsmax on Wednesday that her nationwide History Rocks! Trail to Independence Tour is engaging students with hands-on lessons about America's founding.
McMahon told Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight" that the effort has strong backing from parents who want to revive civic understanding ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary and that students across the country are energized by the lessons.
She said the initiative has drawn broad approval as it moves through early stops in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.
McMahon, who announced the tour on Dec. 2, framed it as a central feature of the federal government's celebration of America's first 250 years.
The effort is coordinated with the America 250 Civics Education Coalition, the America First Policy Institute, Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College, and dozens of national and state partners.
"Parents in general are so pleased, you know, by this tour. And the kids are responding so well in every school; they love the History Rocks! tour," she said, adding that the program is designed to prepare students for next year's U.S. milestone.
She described it as "a celebratory tour, but it is also returning civics education to the states."
The tour aims to highlight how schools teach core principles that shaped the United States, while encouraging students to explore the nation's early struggles, debates, and achievements.
McMahon said the stops include interactive activities that draw students into questions about the Declaration of Independence, its signers, and the states that shaped the founding period.
Assemblies also feature state-specific trivia.
The secretary was quick to dismiss attempts to cast the tour as political.
"To try to turn this into a partisan educational tour, when we're talking about Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and signers of the Declaration and what, you know, what we went through, you know, as a country and what civics really means, it is just, you know, it's just [farcical]," she said, arguing the aim is to help students learn to appreciate their country again.
McMahon also pushed back on reports that media outlets faced limits during school visits.
"I think I read one report that said press wasn't allowed. I did a press gaggle at each of those three schools, didn't have any problem at all taking questions from the media and telling them exactly what we were doing on the tour," she said.
"One press person asked me, she said, 'Well, are you really advocating teaching all history? I mean, back to the days of slavery?'" McMahon said.
"I said, 'Oh my goodness, the history of this country is about everything from how it was founded all the way through to, you know, our modern technology today.'
"You know, it's warts and all — where we've come as a country, a country to be so proud of, a flag to be so respected," she said.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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