This Monday, the history of BYU will come to life in a special family home evening tour in the Education in Zion exhibit.

The evening tour features employees dressed as characters from BYU’s history. The actors will share stories of the building and development of BYU.

 “There is a lot more to BYU than most people think,” said Danielle Julander, a senior in English who is a gallery educator.

The exhibit began the activity in connection with new student orientation. Freshman groups were guided through the exhibit by historic BYU characters. Ali Tingey, a gallery educator from Montreal, said this event was the inspiration for the new family home evening tour.

The tours are available for students, families and community members. They run every half hour from 7 to 9 p.m.

“It is really fun to come here for FHE,” Tingey said. “It is an enlightening experience.”
  A similar FHE was held Oct. 5. Dressed as Nellie Romney, who attended one of the Church’s first academies, Julander explained how early saints viewed education.

 “The early saints recognized how important it is to educate their children and educate themselves,” Julander said.

Groups of students, families and community members can visit the Education in Zion family home evening activities each week.

This special program includes a song, prayer, spiritual thought and a tour. In the future, they hope to also include games, Tingey said.

“This is a place of learning without grades,” she said.
 Ivy Hazlett, a freshman in conservation biology, from Moab, attended the family home evening on Oct 5.

 “I like how [the tour] helps develop a sense of place and history,” Hazlett said. “Seeing how much [early saints] valued learning makes me want to take advantage of everything that they have available here.”

 The gallery educators are hoping to repeat these character-guided tours many times throughout the year.