Second Grade field trip spans centuries of life with hands-on activities

At the end of every school year, Clark Second Grade students visit Dover Museum to learn a bit about life in the “olden” days. Through the years, as the museum collection has expanded and “olden” days now include the 20th century, the field trip has expanded its experiences.

After the short walk from Clark to the museum, students are divided into three groups. Group 1 begins their tour in the main exhibit area on the first floor. Group 2 goes upstairs to the One Room Schoolhouse replica. Group 3 heads out the door to visit the depot and learn about railroads. The groups then rotate and each child gets to learn about life without computers and power tools.

A great group of volunteers manned the many stations on the first floor. To learn about life in the nineteenth century, students learned to shuck corn, shell it and grind the kernels for meal, wash clothes with a washboard and iron using heavy irons heated on a coal stove and drill holes with a hand drill. Spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries students churned butter, kneaded bread and ground crackers and shredded carrots. For the twentieth century, a typewriter and a selection of dial and push button telephones kept the children fascinated.

Upstairs in the one room classroom, the teacher rang the bell to start class. Students were intrigued with doing schoolwork on slates with chalk. Paper was far too expensive to be used for school. Many questions were asked about lunch, recess, keeping the room comfortable and teaching 8 grade levels at one time. Many students were introduced for the first time to repeating a grade. Not only did you sit with the younger kids, you began the year entirely over and started at the beginning of your failed year’s book.

At the depot, there were so many new things to see and learn. Most of the students had never ridden on a train and the idea of travel from stop to stop seemed weird plus you were riding with all that other stuff like mail and milk and freight. Each student gets to use the telegraph key as they dot and dash their names.

At the end of the trip, the “good” part. As the class leaves, each students gets the opportunity to try home baked bread spread with the butter they just churned. For the adventurous, buttermilk was available to try. People from the 1800s did not waste anything!

Every year, the second grade writes Thank You notes. This year they are being displayed in the front window of the museum. They will be changed weekly so that all are displayed as July goes on. Stop by and enjoy reading what the students enjoyed and what stood out to them as special. It is always hard to determine who had the most fun — the volunteers or the kids. Stop in on Saturday or Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Visit the museum and talk with the volunteers about your experiences with the “olden” days.