TVHS Juniors Take Fourth-Graders Back In Time
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Juniors in Jeff Shriver’s and June Yazel’s American Studies class at Tippecanoe Valley High School taught the elementary students what life was like back then.
According to Shriver, the 11th-graders Friday morning taught the elementary children how to make horn books, rope, butter, apple butter, candles, funnel cakes and taffy. In the afternoon, the juniors continued teaching the fourth-graders at the historic one-room Prill School. At Prill, they taught them how to sew buttons on a penny rug, play pioneer games, hand pump water, wash clothes and put the laundry on the line to dry. Also, the fourth-graders learned to shell corn and saw a demonstration of spinning sheep’s wool into yarn.
Shriver said back in the late 19th century, people couldn’t just go out and buy what they wanted. They had to make it. For stuff like taffy, it was a social event.
Each of the juniors studied the history of the pioneers and what they did and how they did it, Shriver said. The high school students previously gave the lessons to Akron Elementary students.
Kelsey Ball, junior, was part of the group making funnel cakes for the fourth-graders.
“In the early 1800s, early 1900s, you made them yourself. You got the ingredients from the farm, but the powdered sugar you had to get from the store,” Ball said. “They mostly made them for a special occasion.”
To learn about how to make funnel cakes and their history, Ball said she did research on the Internet.
Through the Pioneer Days project, Ball said she learned how difficult that time period was and how easy life is now. She said she wouldn’t want to go to a one-room school like Prill. Students had to take a lot to school, including wood for a fire to keep the building warm in the winter.
“We’re making taffy like they did in the pioneer days because they couldn’t get candy in the stores,” Branigan Bahney stated, watching the fourth-graders pull and tug on the taffy. “It’s fun to do. I like to do it with the kids. It’s fun to see their reaction. One person had it everywhere. I thought it was hilarious.”
Chris Gagnon said it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to make taffy.
To make it, Gagnon said you put all the ingredients in a pan, stir until the butter melts and wait until it boils. You then stick it into water. If you can roll it into a ball, you then take the whole pot and dump it onto a platter. You take a spoon and start whipping it up. Once it looks a white color, he said you dump it and start pulling it.
John Paul Secrest was one of four juniors showing how to make butter. The fourth-graders each took turns to churn the butter.
“We researched on the Internet how to do it. Mrs. McFarland from Akron helped. I think it’s been pretty fun. The kids all seem pretty interested in how to make it. I think it’s been fun researching how to make butter,” Secrest said.
Unlike Ball, Secrest said he wouldn’t have minded living back in pioneer days.
“I live on a farm so I know the hard work and stuff. It gives you a different perspective,” he said.
Mitch Randall was helping show the students how to make horn books, which originated in the 1400s. They are made of a block of wood with paper on it so people can write their alphabet, Bible verses or other lessons.
“You take a bull’s horn and boil it. The clear coat would come off. You wrap it around the wood and let it dry. The block of wood is then protected by a clean coat. They passed it on from generation to generation,” Randall stated.
He agreed with Ball about living in the 1800s.
“No,” he firmly stated. “I’m a ‘techer’ and I don’t want to live back then. I’d rather not.”[[In-content Ad]]
Juniors in Jeff Shriver’s and June Yazel’s American Studies class at Tippecanoe Valley High School taught the elementary students what life was like back then.
According to Shriver, the 11th-graders Friday morning taught the elementary children how to make horn books, rope, butter, apple butter, candles, funnel cakes and taffy. In the afternoon, the juniors continued teaching the fourth-graders at the historic one-room Prill School. At Prill, they taught them how to sew buttons on a penny rug, play pioneer games, hand pump water, wash clothes and put the laundry on the line to dry. Also, the fourth-graders learned to shell corn and saw a demonstration of spinning sheep’s wool into yarn.
Shriver said back in the late 19th century, people couldn’t just go out and buy what they wanted. They had to make it. For stuff like taffy, it was a social event.
Each of the juniors studied the history of the pioneers and what they did and how they did it, Shriver said. The high school students previously gave the lessons to Akron Elementary students.
Kelsey Ball, junior, was part of the group making funnel cakes for the fourth-graders.
“In the early 1800s, early 1900s, you made them yourself. You got the ingredients from the farm, but the powdered sugar you had to get from the store,” Ball said. “They mostly made them for a special occasion.”
To learn about how to make funnel cakes and their history, Ball said she did research on the Internet.
Through the Pioneer Days project, Ball said she learned how difficult that time period was and how easy life is now. She said she wouldn’t want to go to a one-room school like Prill. Students had to take a lot to school, including wood for a fire to keep the building warm in the winter.
“We’re making taffy like they did in the pioneer days because they couldn’t get candy in the stores,” Branigan Bahney stated, watching the fourth-graders pull and tug on the taffy. “It’s fun to do. I like to do it with the kids. It’s fun to see their reaction. One person had it everywhere. I thought it was hilarious.”
Chris Gagnon said it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to make taffy.
To make it, Gagnon said you put all the ingredients in a pan, stir until the butter melts and wait until it boils. You then stick it into water. If you can roll it into a ball, you then take the whole pot and dump it onto a platter. You take a spoon and start whipping it up. Once it looks a white color, he said you dump it and start pulling it.
John Paul Secrest was one of four juniors showing how to make butter. The fourth-graders each took turns to churn the butter.
“We researched on the Internet how to do it. Mrs. McFarland from Akron helped. I think it’s been pretty fun. The kids all seem pretty interested in how to make it. I think it’s been fun researching how to make butter,” Secrest said.
Unlike Ball, Secrest said he wouldn’t have minded living back in pioneer days.
“I live on a farm so I know the hard work and stuff. It gives you a different perspective,” he said.
Mitch Randall was helping show the students how to make horn books, which originated in the 1400s. They are made of a block of wood with paper on it so people can write their alphabet, Bible verses or other lessons.
“You take a bull’s horn and boil it. The clear coat would come off. You wrap it around the wood and let it dry. The block of wood is then protected by a clean coat. They passed it on from generation to generation,” Randall stated.
He agreed with Ball about living in the 1800s.
“No,” he firmly stated. “I’m a ‘techer’ and I don’t want to live back then. I’d rather not.”[[In-content Ad]]
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