Teachers don’t get the recognition they deserve as often as they should.

So, the Pioneer Museum of Alabama has set aside two hours on Sunday to say thank you to all area teachers with its first “Welcome Back Scholars” event.

“The Pioneer Museum of Alabama is a living classroom and a teaching tool for teachers from our city, county and private schools,” said Rachael Greve, museum director. “Too often we overlook the opportunities that are in our own backyard so ‘Welcome Back Scholars’ will not only be our way of saying ‘thank you’ to our teachers for their commitment to our children but a way for us to introduce and re-introduce them to all that the museum has to offer as a teacher resource.”

“Welcome Back Scholars” is a come and go event from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday and all teachers are invited.

“The teacher appreciation event will include a tour of the museum, a variety of demonstrations and a stroll around the grounds with stops at several of our outside structures,” Greve said. “Our docents will demonstrate how visits to the museum will take regular classroom curriculum to the next level.”

The “Welcome Back Scholars” event will be of special interest to those who teach history, social studies, earth science and the humanities but all teachers will benefit from the event, Greve said.

“We will offer information on how to incorporate different facets of the museum into the teaching curriculum,” she said. “A variety of resource materials will be available along with information about our Pioneer Days in October and other special events.”

In addition, there will be some great finger foods and door prizes that include a free class field trip to the Pioneer Museum of Alabama.

“Teachers don’t have to be present to win the class field trip but they do have to come and register to be eligible,” Greve said. “The field trip includes free admission for up to 40 students, the teacher and bus driver, a picnic lunch for all and a $40 gas card to help fund the bus trip.

The class field trip is a great prize and all teachers who attend “Welcome Back Scholars” and register are eligible.

“We will also give the teachers an opportunity to complete a survey to let us know the good, the bad and the ugly about the museum and what we can do to make it a more useful alternate educational resource,” Greve said. “We want the Pioneer Museum of Alabama to be known and appreciated as a learning institution that is fun and exciting to visit.”

Teachers who plan to attend “Welcome Back Scholars” are asked to contact the museum at 334-566-3597 by 5 p.m. on Saturday in order for the museum staff to make arrangements for the refreshments.