By By KATHIE HEMPEL / Niles Daily Star
NILES-The Eastside students would not be denied.
They had looked forward to two third grade field trips to discover the history of Niles, only to find funding cutbacks would stop them. Two bake sales and the two trips were back on the agenda.
The first, a half-day tour of City Hall, the Fort Saint Joseph Museum and the Ferry Street School was Wednesday. A full-day historic tour of Niles is scheduled for next Tuesday, May 8.
Students in Sue Mattix's class sat in the old desks at Ferry Street and listened to the 'teacher,' Carol Bainbridge director of the Fort Saint Joseph Museum explain the classes of long ago.
"Children who wanted to speak or answer a question were expected not to raise their hand and wave it about, but to raise three fingers in proper manner and quietly wait to be called on. When asked, they would stand by their desks and give their answers. There was no, just calling out, in the days children attended classes here," she said.
Mattix pointed out to her class that similar behavior would still be appreciated.
Outside of the City Hall, Erin Claussen, an intern with the museum, had Michelle Frost's third graders, counting the number of times certain elements of architecture were used in Chapin House.
"See how many of the stained glass windows you can identify at the front of the house," Claussen said.
The students scanned the front of the old house, straining to see which of the windows contained the colorful glass. They then recorded their findings on sheets to see who could discover the most of the decorative elements.
At the museum, Ann Moore's class was on a scavenger hunt. Students clamored upstairs and down searching certain exhibits for the correct answer to multiple-choice questions.
Next week's tour will take them throughout the city to see such sites as Bertrand Park, the oldest home in Niles and to make etchings of the old stones in Silverbrook Cemetery. These are trips the teachers and parents said it would be a shame to not provide.
Learning experiences such as these have fallen victim to the cutbacks Lansing has imposed on curriculums, teachers commented. Cutbacks took away from the class time usually spent in explaining the local landmarks prior to this trip, but did not take away from the enjoyment expressed by the children.