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Friday, 07 November 2008 |
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Staff photo/Katie Yantis
Stan Davis shows third-grade students a photograph of the city of St. Marys during a historic walking tour of downtown Thursday morning.
By KATIE YANTIS
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — Elementary students from the area learned about local history Thursday morning with a walking tour for third-grade students.
The tour revealed St. Marys history to 190 students from Holy Rosary and East and West Elementary schools.
“I think kids are our foundation and the more they know about their culture and history, they can pass that to generations to come,” Historic Walk Committee Chair Kimberli Rompilla said. “They study Ohio this year, so what better way to follow that up with a walking tour.”
Rompilla also said a benefit of the third grade walking tour is they may go home to discuss what they learned with their parents. Making stops at nine different locations throughout St. Marys, the children were able to learn a variety of the city’s history.
The stops included the armory, covered bridge, St. Marys Theater, Fountain Hotel, First National Bank, Woolen Mill, Grist Mill, Heritage Park and Lock 12. At each location the students were greeted by a representative who gave them information on each site.
At the armory, Kelli Watsons’ East Elementary class received a tour, seeing the supply room and a few of the vehicles the troops used on duty.
“I think it’s awesome,” Watson said. “For our social studies standards it is all community, to get out and see it instead of just seeing it on paper is great.”
At the Heritage Park stop, Watson said her students started to realize the history they were learning.
“They realized they pass this as just a park and don’t realize the history that is in it,” Watson said.
St. Marys Manager Industrial and Community Development Todd Fleagle told the history of the murals in the park to the students.
Fleagle told the students that shadows in the last mural represent famous people in St. Marys history including General Gerilich, James Toole, Galen Cisco, Neil Armstrong and John Dillinger.
The children were able to connect knowledge they learned throughout the tour to each other. After visiting Lock 12, the students could answer questions at the Grist and Woolen Mills.
Other history they learned included the story of the John Dillinger gang and the robbery of the First National Bank. The students also stopped by Memorial Park along the tour.
The students also learned about entertainment in history, stopping at the Grand Opera House, where they learned people could see an opera show for 25 cents.
After the tour was over, the students returned to Memorial Park to receive an apple and a bag of goodies before returning to school. Rompilla said the St. Marys Area Chamber of Commerce is hoping to continue the walk annually and expand it to include other sites.
“That is why we are here,” Rompilla said. ‘We want to teach the community and kids about St. Marys.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 12 November 2008 )
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