Students Studying for 300th

Most folks know by now that Lexington’s 300th birthday is being thoroughly planned out.  What might come as a surprise is that dozens of young students are studying up in advance of the anniversary event.

For the last two years, the Lexington Education Foundation has funded the “Lexington, Then and Now” grants, which have supported curriculum and professional development that will lead to social studies lessons plans connecting with the town and its 300 years.

One of the objectives is to explore the town’s history across the past 300 years, with attention paid not just to the American Revolution, but as well to the importance of diversity and value Lexington has long placed on individual rights.

“The kids should know about where they live and they should know about the variety of our history and richness of our history,” said Jane Hundley, the K-5 social studies curriculum coordinator. “I think that looks different at every grade level and you can approach it in many different ways.”

Hundley has been involved since the beginning. She said that conversations about tying the tercentennial in with in schools began in winter 2010, and quickly progressed to involving teachers in grades 3, 4 and 5 and applying for an LEF grant.

The first "Lexington, Then and Now" grant, for $6,500, included just a few teachers in grades 3, 4 and 5, while this year’s grant brought in AP educators at and grades K, 1 and 2. Next year, Hundley said the middles schools should be included, as well.

According to Hundley, the first year focused on building teacher knowledge and encouraging educators to do their own research and figure out how to connect Lexington history into normal lesson plans. Richard Kollen, a history teacher at the high school and Lexington historian, was a huge help in this area, as were Mary Gillespie, and the Lexington Historical Society, Hundley said.

Over the past school year, the lessons have been tested, sourced and refined and are now being tested again across more classrooms. The testing will continue through this year and early next, with the end game being to produce projects that can be displayed during the core celebrations in March 2013.  

For instance, third-graders at the and schools are learning about Lexington’s farming history and, using photographs and documents, will assume the personalities of children who lived in Lexington in years gone by.

“It’s a really good way for young kids to use primary source documents they might not get to see if they were just using text books,” said Hundley.

Fourth-graders at testing schools will look at they way they learn about history and will consider, if they were to build a time capsule, how it would be perceived 300 years from now. Fifth-graders will consider how has, over time, come to symbolize American history, freedom and democracy. 

Kindergarteners will delve into the history of their own schools, while first graders will examine different styles of houses in Lexington and second-graders will study census data and look at how the population evolved from the 1890s through 1920s and today.

In addition to the value added to students, Hundley, who was hired to her full-time position shortly after getting involved with the project, said the “Lexington, Then and Now” grant program has been great for educators, as well.

“It really allows teachers from different schools to be able to work together in ways they might not otherwise,” she said.  “It’s just a great way for a school community to come together in a social studies kind of way.”