The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Looking Underground
Students' exhibits tell story of Underground Railroad
By Eric Tomford, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: March 20, 2008
Students at Symons Elementary School in Milan took a step back in time Friday as four fourth-grade classes displayed their museum-style exhibits on the Underground Railroad.
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Students from Jenny Schmidt, Alice Brobst-Walsh, Kelley Smith andBethany Beaudrie's classes participated in making the exhibits, which included narrative journals about traveling the Underground Railroad.
They then were recorded and played back throughout the day. Students also sang songs associated with the railroad, and made signs, quilts, and displays about the Big Dipper and North Star.
They also researched hiding places and influential figures involved with the Underground Railroad, including Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglass and the Coffin family. Another group made a map, which showed the routes that some slaves may have traveled.
"This was a very important time in history. People looked for each other for help," said Schmidt, a fourth-grade teacher at Symons.
"The color of one's skin mattered back then and people had to work together to help free the slaves."
Students also learned what it was like to be a slave. Their projects forced them into the shoes of a slave and into a worldwhere slaves couldn't keep their last name, didn't know their own birthday and were treated as property.
"We learned a lot about what it was like to be a slave" said fourth-grader Maura Tyno.
The displays will be up through the end of the week for the rest of the school to enjoy.
Maura said the project was important for many reasons.
"They were very important people in the world," she said. "They were hated for the color of their skin and that is not right."
Eric Tomford is a freelance writer. He can be reached at etomford@gmail.com.
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