Social Studies Unit Gets Real for Simsbury’s Second Graders

For many, social studies conjures up memories of lengthy recitations about historical events, memorizing dates, and studying maps in hefty textbooks. Not in Simsbury, however, where the curriculum employs an innovative approach to teaching, bringing the change-makers and heroes of the past to meet the students of the present.

Last year K-12 Instructional Technology Resource Teacher Bryan Marchinkoski and Writing/Social Studies Coordinator Melanie Meehan worked with a team of second-grade teachers to revise the Grade 2 social studies curriculum in order to emphasize people who make a positive difference in the Simsbury community as well as the greater world. Students study these individuals, regardless of age or geography, and investigate the common characteristics of leaders and change-makers in order to develop their own skills and potential to make a positive impact on their community and world.

When students analyze characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of people who make a positive difference, they can better connect past events with the influences and actions people take in the present. In this social studies unit, students also learn to recognize and evaluate the ways people are honored, culminating in a project that serves as an acknowledgment for those who made a difference. At Central School, what better way to begin to engage 60+ second graders than a walk through their own town to “name hunt” and discover who helped make Simsbury what it is today?

Marchinkoski and Meehan led students, equipped with clipboards to jot their questions and tablets to photograph and document what they found, from Nancy Montemerlo’s, Lisa O’Connor’s, and Jill VanVoorhis’ classes to the Town Hall, where Simsbury’s first high school was the Town Hall building, funded by the citizens of the town. Marchinkoski drew a parallel with this occurrence from the distant past with one that the youngsters could relate to in the present. He noted, “The construction over at Henry James [middle school] is happening because the people of Simsbury voted to make the school even better.”

The students were invited inside to the Town Meeting Room where Town Clerk Ericka Butler and Deputy Town Manager Melissa Appleby explained their form of government and answered questions from the group, including one youngster’s query referencing the former First Selectmen portraits hanging on the walls. “Did they used to be presidents?” she asked.

Outside the Town Hall, the children scurried around to find names on plaques or on the brick pavers around the large clock that might help them find a pattern during their investigation. Names like Pettibone, Ellsworth, Humphrey, Amos, Pinchot, and Phelps began cropping up, and Marchinkoski reveled in telling stories about them and their descendants, some of whom still reside in town. As the children listened, Meehan coached them to be active in their investigations to find out more. “Hope you are writing your questions down!” she reminded them.

Next was Schultz Park, a pocket park tucked away in the center of town. It was an undiscovered gem for many, with a goldmine of names to find, including atop a wooden gazebo, the ceiling of which featured a map of the trees and bushes in the park. In 1946 Henry and John Ellsworth donated to the Town of Simsbury the property whose last resident was their sister, Annie Ellsworth Schultz. The property served as a memorial to her.

How to pay tribute to those who made sacrifices was evidenced at the next stop, the Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company, where Chief James Baldis explained about the large memorial in front of the building, inscribed with the names of all the town’s fire stations as well as one other name. Frank R. Bradley had only been a volunteer for seven days when he perished in the Hartford Circus Fire on July 6, 1944.

The iron gates of Simsbury’s cemetery were open to the throng of children, as they were cautioned by their teachers to be very respectful of the grounds and to observe, not touch. There were exclaims of recognition as the headstones revealed what were at this point becoming very familiar names to the students. At the next stop, the Simsbury Free Library, students learned more about Amos Eno, who established and endowed the Simsbury Free Library in 1874.

At the Simsbury Public Library, more stories were told about folks like Gifford Pinchot, one of the founding fathers of the global conservation movement who was born in Simsbury; William Bickford, founder of Ensign-Bickford, which manufactured the safety fuse, a great advance in mining technology; and William Phelps Eno, the “father of traffic” a businessman credited with many of the earliest innovations in road safety and traffic control. Tootin’ Hills library media specialist Susan Locandro marveled to the second graders, “Just think of all the inventors who lived and grew up in Simsbury. You guys could be the next ones!”

The students’ journey ended at the Veterans Memorial next to the library. Dedicated in May 2016, the monument consists of engraved stone columns honoring the 98 Simsbury soldiers across the generations that gave the ultimate sacrifice, from the Revolutionary War through the Global War on Terror. A few children could be observed running their fingers over the inscribed names of the fallen, brows furrowed in contemplation. This was far from a social studies learned from a textbook—this was curriculum come alive.

Not all the elementary schools can easily access the resources that Central School students were able to, hence Marchinkoski has created a google interactive map filled with information, images, and videos of him reading that info for the second graders around town to use for research. Said Marchinkoski, “It was a good opportunity to record video of the places for the map. Also with the town clerk and fire chief!”