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Happening ... in the Local Church
 St.
Lawrence fourth-grader Laura Sipple dances the Virginia Reel, led by CC
students Stephanie Haan, left, and Becky Diener. (Photos by Lisa Wilson-Cotillier) |
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| St. Boniface student Guido Gallo tries his hand at calligraphy. | CC junior Dru Anthrop demonstrates the grinding of corn. | St. Lawrence student Bradyn Bordenet makes a candle. | Students also sampled the art of making gingerbread houses. |
By Lisa L. Wilson
The Catholic Moment
LAFAYETTE — Archery, calligraphy and candle making were practiced by the men and women of Indiana in the early 1800s, and all were showcased during Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School’s 14th annual Heritage Day, Dec. 6.
“I think the hands-on experience gives my students a better understanding of what they read in their textbook,” said Elaine Kubsch, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Lawrence School here. “It gives them a chance to really see what it was like and increases their enthusiasm for history.”
The
first Heritage Day was held in 1993. The idea was formulated by Mary
Anthrop, a teacher at Central Catholic for 31 years. The 11th-graders who
are in her American history class serve as the teachers for the
fourth-graders.
“Fourth-grade curriculum includes the study of Indiana history, so Heritage Day helps give them some hands-on experience with the topic, while giving high school students the ability to interact with a ‘real audience’ through teaching,” she said. “It is an experience that can’t be duplicated in a classroom. In many ways it mirrors a service project, with the students passing on the knowledge of what they have learned to the fourth-graders they work with. The students enjoy it a great deal.”
Fourth-graders from St. Boniface and St. Lawrence Catholic schools and St. James Lutheran School in Lafayette filled Eberle Gym to play and learn as the pioneer children did.
The Central Catholic students chose the projects they wanted to research.
“They organize, work together and cooperate with one another to complete the task,” Anthrop said. “Then they are responsible for devising ways to teach what they have learned to the younger students.”
“We learned so much,” said CC junior Becky Diener, who learned about 19th-century music and dance. “We really had to work at making the dances easier to learn for the fourth-graders, because some of the dances were really complicated.”
“It was interesting, too, because the music and dance were so different,” said classmate Stephanie Haan. “So many things were nothing like they are today.”
“The students see how technology and industrialization have impacted the world,” Anthrop said, “and they can also compare the societal differences — for example, work in the 19th century was very gender oriented, which is not the case today.”
Each Heritage Day is different, introducing fourth-grade students to “men’s work,” “women’s work,” “children’s work,” “music and dance” and “Native American life,” among other topics.
Eleventh-grade students demonstrated how to start a fire with wood and flint; how to build a log cabin; candle making; sewing, and introduced some foods of the 19th century including deer meat and corn bread. Fourth-graders practiced bead work as the Native Americans did, learned to dance the “Virginia Reel” or the “Paddle Dance,” ground corn with early 19th-century tools and made a gingerbread house.
Karla Samples, a parent chaperone from St. Boniface, attended Heritage Day with her son, Theodore.
“I am so impressed,” she said. “I can tell that the high school students really took the time to learn about life in the 19th century. They did a great job making everything look and feel realistic and they are very enthusiastic about sharing what they’ve learned with us. This is a great way to learn about our history.”
Eleventh-grader Caroline Eberle, who taught the art of 19th-century gingerbread house making, remembered coming to Heritage Day as a fourth-grade student from St. Boniface.
“The high school kids seemed so big,” she said. “I learned a lot, and I really had a lot of fun. I hope the kids here today have a great time and learn a lot, too.”
“It makes me feel good,” Anthrop said, “when students who attended Heritage Day as fourth- graders voice their appreciation and memories of the time they spent here working on projects that they then proudly took home to share with their parents. It’s become a legacy. They came as fourth-grade students, and now they have the opportunity to pass the tradition on, making the day memorable for the next batch of fourth-graders. That’s what I enjoy most.”