ERMS Museum Brings the Ancient to the Present

Corinthian, they say with aplomb. Mycenaean. Thermopylae.

Sue Gartner's sixth grade social studies students may speak softly, but they carry extensive knowledge of the life and times of Ancient Greece.

And they are set to impart their expertise to all who visit the East Ridge Middle School Library on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week between 8:15 and 11:15 a.m.

The students have worked for more than a month to create Gartner's annual ancient museum, a project she has led during more than two decades of teaching sixth grade. Peers work in small groups to create displays, informative captions and oral presentations about all different aspects of life. This year's museum focuses on Ancient Greece, though Gartner also has students study Egypt and China, rotating each year.

Once the museum is assembled and the presentations perfected, students—some as topic experts and others as tour guides escorting visitors between displays—offer detailed talks, illustrated by the displays' diagrams and artwork. Gartner's former students in seventh and eighth grade visit the museum annually, as well as fifth graders from Branchville, Veterans Park and Farmingville elementary schools, parents and interested visitors.

Student learning during the project stretches beyond facts about ancient civilizations, Gartner said, encompassing things like working in groups, public speaking, research and factual writing.

"They love laying on the floor and doing artwork... It's a very relaxed time, yet they accomplish a lot," she said.