East Ridge Students Head West With Lewis and Clark

Tuesday morning, 7th grade students from East Ridge Middle School viewed the newly created Lewis and Clark Museum produced by Michael Settani and Andrea Donigian.

The two seventh grade Social Studies teachers gave credit to former teacher Bill Mischicko for the hands-on representation of Lewis's and Clark’s expedition as students have been able to experience the exhibit for the past nine years.

“[Mischicko] was retiring and asked the school to continue the event,” Settani said.

As students gathered in the library-turned-museum, authentic Native American music and ceremonial war dances played in the background. Library books were set up for students to reference as they identified seven different animal tracks and several rock samples.

Books such as Trees of North America and Europe by Roger Phillips, Animal Tracks by Olaus J. Murie, and Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb were chosen by the school’s librarian, representing the kind of tracking the famous explorers once performed.

Students also used a Native American Sign Language Dictionary and decoded pictographs with clues given to them.

Each student was given a job prior to entering the museum. Settani and Donigian assigned each student a position. Some were sergeants, privates, zoologists, botanists and ethnographers. Two lucky students from each classroom were given the opportunity to play the legendary explorers, Lewis and Clark. Both teachers played the role of President Thomas Jefferson for their respective classes.

The sergeants took charge of deciphering rock samples; the botanists were responsible for sketching, measuring, and drawing flowers; the zoologists identified animal tracks placed around the room; and the ethnographers had the chance to study the Indian artifacts placed within the museum.

“Each class has their own Lewis and their own Clark,” Donigian said. “It is structured in a way where they can turn to each other and interact.”

Despite being separated into two classes, all the students worked together to determine the objects presented to them.

“We just started working on it yesterday,” Settani said. “We looked at [Lewis’s and Clark’s] trip, now they can work together as a team.”

Settani has seen the benefits of hands-on learning experiences like that at museum.

“What we have seen throughout the year is kids who can’t sit in the classroom are transfixed,” Settani said. “When it’s time to go, they don’t want to leave.”

Donigian agreed.

“They can read about it, they can talk about it, and whenever kids can touch and feel, they are using all their senses,” she said.

At the end of the week, the students are expected to turn in written reports of the information they have collected.

“If time allows, we will do presentations,” Donigian stated.

A tradition has been implemented into the experience. Students take out flowers that were pressed by the previous year’s seventh-graders and sketch them. The students then create their own flower presses for the next year’s students.

Thus, each class gives back to future generations of East Ridge seventh-graders.

“My favorite thing about this day is pressing the flowers,” stated seventh-grader, Ava Colarusso.

Her fellow seventh-grader, Matthew Bartolucci favored the feathers on the arrows placed out for students to measure. Another student, Kat Howie, enjoyed seeing what animals that she hadn't seen before looked like up close. Mounted animals such as birds and raccoons were placed around the room for students to draw.

“My favorite thing about this is that you actually see what the animals look like,” Howie said. “Now I know what a mongoose looks like.”

Throughout the class period, Settani asked students questions to keep them thinking about what certain artifacts were used for and what they may have done with particular tools.

“They get a little taste of what it must have been like,” Settani said. “This is the best way we can do it.”