Education Committee Plans for the Clinton County Bicentennial 1810-2010

As teachers in Clinton County, we invite you to get your students involved and excited about celebrating their county's 200th birthday!  We are presenting our plans early because we would like you to fit them into the curriculum you already teach.  May, 2010 will be designated as "History Month in Celebration of the Clinton County Bicentennial."

We realize that bicentennial activities naturally fall in the social studies area, but that does not prevent math teachers from talking about it, (How did people calculate before computers?) or science teachers from discussing the development of scientific thinking or scientific inventions in the last 200 years (How have innoculations affected disease prevention?)  In teaching reading or literature, what was going on in Clinton County when the author wrote this work?  Some writing pieces could center around events, people, or places in their community.

The committee has planned five approaches through which students may learn about and celebrate their county's history. ( Attached pages will more fully explain each activity.)

--Each school will select items to be put into its time-capsule, to be opened in 25 years.

--Each school is encouraged to put up a time-line of major events in their community or Clinton County in their hallways.  (State, national or world-wide history might be juxtaposed with local history.)

--Students will be invited to look at historical pictures of their community and write a story or essay to accompany one of them.

--Art teachers are encouraged to have students draw/paint through the year with the bicentennial in mind. 

Music programs for the 2009-2010 year might be bicentennial based.  "A Place Called Home" could be a theme for a fine-arts fair.

--A speaker with a traveling trunk of toys and games will be available by appointment for grades K-5.  How has fun and leisure changed for children these past 200 years? (to book, please call Mary Ann Raizk, 382-4715). 

Teachers are also asked to advertise and encourage student and family attendance at activities for the community, such as: Bicentennial barn quilt tours in June 2010, Community kick-off event and bell-ringing, February 19, 2010, Clinton County Garden tours, Spring/Summer 2010, Ice Cream Social & croquet, cornhole, & checker tournaments on the Courthouse lawn on Sat., Aug. 14, 2010, Haunted Wilmington Tours in Oct. and Nov., 2010.  1812 costumed re-enactors--Michael & Rebecca Cooper from Martinsville, are available upon request (937-344-1573, mcooper639@yahoo.com)

Additional information on the above events can be found in the Wilmington News-Journal and on the web-site.  Each school is encouraged to plan their own bicentennial celebration.  For more factual information about your community, teachers can consult their local historical society. 

If you have further questions or suggestions, please call us:

                                      Bicentennial Educ. Committee Co-chair persons,

                                      Chris Burns-DiBiasio

                                                382-6103, messrsd@wilmington.edu

                                      Mary Ann Raizk

                                                382-4715, mraizk@cinci.rr.com

                                      Committee members:

                                                Sharon Roberts, Jim Wagoner,Linda Achor,

                                                Loren Stuckert, Terri Limbert, Jennifer Hollon

ESSAY ACTIVITY

Each school office will receive a set of 8X10 historical pictures of their community.  Classroom teachers may check out the set from the office whenever they need it to conduct the activity.

Discussion/Presentation

          1. What is the Bicentennial? Discussion of county/city history, 200 years

            2. Theme of Bicentennial…  “Celebrating a Place Called Home”

            3. What is home?

                        a. street location where you live (house)

                        b. community where you live (town)

            4. Display of photographs from the past/ how we got them ( from local historical societies)

            5.  What is an historical society? (Place that collects, protects, and displays history)

            6.  Discuss photographs

                        a. Historical information about the photograph

                        b. What is happening in the photograph?

                        c. Explore what you see in the picture: clothing, the buildings, activities,

                            people, etc.

The Essay

Write a story about the picture in your own words.  Perhaps try to imagine yourself in the picture. What are you doing? What are you wearing? How do you feel about what is happening? Be creative and use your imagination!

 After the students write the essays, the teacher selects 1 or 2 of the best ones and sends them to the office to be collected by our committee.  Make sure that the title of the photo and the full name of the student and the school are on each essay.  This contest can be done anytime during the 2010 school year, but must be completed by May 19, 2010.

The Bicentennial Education Committee will choose the best essays to be published in the Wilmington News-Journal.  Also, some of the essays will be on display with the enlarged (2 ft. x 3 ft.) photos throughout your community's downtown windows during the summer and fall of 2010.  Students and their families will be able to take a walk through history!

TIMELINE PROJECT

 The committee thinks that presenting information to students about the history of their community or county on a timeline might be helpful.  Suggested approaches might be:

1. To juxtapose local events with newsworthy state or national ones.  Large timelines could adorn hallways, cafeterias, or classrooms and be added to all year.

To acquire a large county map & plot interesting events on the map.  Also students could have individual maps or timelines and add the information to their own papers.

Older students might research and develop individual projects about a particular event in Clinton County history.  The Bicentennial Commission is interested in posting student work on its web-site.

A "Bicentennial Moment" could be read over the intercom with morning announcements or a teacher could start his/her class's day with a bicentennial event.

TIME CAPSULE INFORMATION

 In celebration of the Clinton County Bicentennial of 2010, we would like to invite your school to create a time capsule.  A time capsule is an informative and educational approach for students to explore their heritage and look to the future.  The suggestions listed below are to be used as a guide to assist in creating a time capsule that is unique and expressive of your school population and community.

The time capsule should be sealed for 25 years.

An airtight plastic container is suggested.  Contents might also be placed in plastic sleeves.

The dimensions of the time capsule should be approximately 7”H x 17”W x 24”D.

The time capsule should be labeled to include dates, and may be decorated.

The time capsule should contain items which are representative to the heritage of your school, current educational themes, and views about its future destiny.

A few suggestions for contents are:  written information, photographs, surveys, coins, maps, jokes, stamps and other memorabilia unique to your students, the time period, school, and community.

The time capsule might be placed in a trophy case or other designated area visible to students and staff.  A ceremony for placing the time capsule is suggested.

Here's a link to the Clinton County Timeline.

        Have fun and be creative while celebrating the Clinton County Bicentennial of 2010.