Roanoke City Public Schools: Social Studies Outreach Program Immerses Students In The Past

Press release from Roanoke City Public Schools:

02/24/2022

A new partnership between Roanoke City Public Schools and the Frontier Culture Museum's in-class outreach program allows students to see history with their own eyes. Guides from the Staunton museum have visited several RCPS elementary schools since January to provide students with hands-on experiences reinforcing content covered in the state curriculum. Second and fourth graders have been able to take part in this special program. Social Studies Supervisor Jack Jagodzinski said the program has allowed students to reflect on the similarities and differences between the way life is now and the way Americans lived in the late 1700 to early 1800s. "Technology has changed life so much in the last 100 or so years that it's hard for our students to imagine the days of going to the well for water or attending a one-room schoolhouse and having your teacher stay with you and your family!" Mr. Jagodzinski said. "Students have been able to touch and use artifacts from the time period, and the staff from the museum has been great at answering their questions about life in the past." Second graders have learned about daily life in the past, discussing the daily lives of farmers and experiencing a classroom lesson led by a schoolmaster. Fourth graders experienced a lesson that could have been taught in an early American classroom, looked at artifacts from Westward Expansion, and discussed factors that led to the American Colonies. The outreach program has been very popular with students, who are engaged with the hands-on learning. Hurt Park teachers said their classes participated in the visits fully and that the theme tied in perfectly with the Wit & Wisdom reading program's second grade Module 2 about the American West. So far, the Frontier Culture Museum has visited six elementary schools. Mr. Jagodzinski said he hopes to arrange visits at additional elementary schools in the future.

This press release was produced by Roanoke City Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.