High school students that attend the summer camp will be able to view first hand the sites of Cuernavaca that represent the historic past and the importance of the city and its surrounding areas to the country of Mexico.

The native people of the area that is now known as Cuernavaca were called the Tlahuicas. They were a branch of the great civilization called the Nahuatl. These people were linked to the Aztecs. Teens will be able to explore remnants of the Tlahuicas through the Teopanzalco pyramids located within Cuernavaca to this day.

The Aztecs took over the entire area around Cuernavaca and Mexico City and soon after one of the most well know emperor's in Mexican history ruled over the region. With the lead of Moctezuma, the Aztec empire flourish up until the conquest of the Spanish. Moctezuma's mother was a Tlahuica and he built developed mansions and lush gardens around the Oaxtepec natural Springs where his family frequented as a youth. .

Hernan Cortez along with his Spanish conquistadors and local ally tribes marched directly to Mexico City around key defenses and battled with the Aztecs. The defense was useless as the Spanish had horses and advanced armaments. The Aztecs quickly retreated and the Spanish destroyed the city. The native people who once made up the Aztec empire returned in defeat and gave in to Spanish rule.

Hernan Cortez built his palance in Cuernavaca and ruled over a large portion of what is now present day Central Mexico for the Spanish crown. Catholicism was quickly indoctrinated on the native peoples. Sugar cane was cultivated by the natives as a major cash crop for the Spanish. The sugar cane was farmed on massive plantation-style tracts of land known as Haciendas.

The Spanish intermarried with the natives which gave rise to the current race we know today as the Mexican people. This race was known as the Mextizos or literally "mixed race". These people including those born to Spanish parents in Mexico could not be involved in the Mexican government. Due to this inequity among other hardships imposed by the Spanish rule, the Mexican people grew to the ability to push the Spaniards out of Mexico. The resistance was not easy and many lives were lost on each side.. The natives finally gained controled over their lands after long drawn out war that lasted over a decade from 1810 to 1821.

Soon after gaining independance from the Spanish, the Mexican lands were once again occupied by foreign powers. The French occupied lands were put under the power of the occupied to Archduke Maximilian in 1864. The Hapsburg royalty came to Cuernavaca when the rest of the country had harsh weather and enjoyed the eternal Spring developed by the surrouding mountains. In 1867 Benito Juarez and his comrades drove out the occupation and Beniton Juarez became the president of Mexico. The state of Morelos was officially developed after the war and Cuernavaca held the capital seat.