Middleton Schoolhouse open for students

On Tuesday, September 28, at 1 p.m. at the Hot Springs County Museum there will be a celebration and ribbon cutting. The 1920 Middleton Schoolhouse has been renovated and will be hosting classes once more at the museum annex.

Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jillian Balow, will be the guest of honor along with local students to showcase the new program. Storyteller Michelle King will lead the students in a short demonstration of life in the 1920s.

Third through fifth grade students will be introduced to a typical day in a rural one-room classroom in the 1920s. Students will attend class in the original school that was built in rural Middleton, Wyoming and moved, in 1982 to its current location at the museum annex.

The students will be given the opportunity to dress in clothing recreations from the 1920s. The authentic outfits were designed from original patterns and researched extensively by historic costume maker Suzi Sellers.

Each student will be given a character card with their new identity and a back story, some based on real people and families of Hot Springs County. The students will discover who they are and find their relatives and friends among their classmates. They will be encouraged to adopt their new identities and roles in the classroom for the entire experience.

As a finishing touch, their lunches are placed into pails and kerchiefs. Now the students are ready to leave the modern world behind.

When students cross over the threshold of the Middleton Schoolhouse, they will be transported back into time to an era of their great-grandparents. They will be greeted by their teacher who will be leading the class dressed from head-to-toe in 1920s apparel.

As the students find their seats at original antique desks from the by-gone era, they will be instructed in the same way students over a hundred years ago were once taught in rural Wyoming. Lessons are derived from actual 1920s curriculum, through research of old textbooks and school records completed by Diana Clapp Ed. D. The immersion experience along with the accompanying lessons found on wyomingruralschools.com are designed to align to Wyoming Social Studies Content Standards.

To make the immersion experience as real as possible, every detail of the day will be worked out to be as close to the 1920s as possible. When thirsty, students fill their tin cups (no plastic allowed) and during recess, games are played that would have been played over one hundred years ago.

When the students return to the modern world, they will leave the past behind, taking with them their character cards and a personal photo as mementos of their time travel.

The program was made possible with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The schoolhouse has also been recently renovated with the help of the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, Hot Springs County Education Endowment, the Owl Creek Foundation and the Glade Edwards Foundation.

To book your school or homeschool group for an immersion class, contact the Hot Springs County Historical Museum at 864-5183 or email hschistory@rtconnect.net.