History Unfolds From a Trunk During Primary School Presentation

Young "scholars" would bow or curtsy before a "school master" or "school mistress" as they entered class.

They would learn from one of the four McGuffey Readers first published in 1836 or from the bible of 19th-century classrooms: The American Spelling Book by Noah Webster.

If they misbehaved or procrastinated, they might have to wear a dunce cap or get whacked with a switch.

The life of schoolchildren in the 1800s became more tangible for third-graders at the Ocean City Primary School on Tuesday with each new artifact Jim Stephens pulled from a trunk.

Stephens is an education coordinator at Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May, and he uses an "educational trunk" to help history come to life for young students. His presentation on Tuesday was made possible by a grant from the Atlantic City-based Schultz-Hill Foundation that teacher Kathleen Woodring secured.

The third-grade classes of Peg Dunner, Karen Heist, Sharon Naplacic and Melodie Perri attended the event. The teachers get to keep the artifacts from the trunk and use them in future lesson plans.

Tuesday marked Stephens second appearance at the school this year, and the third-graders will go to Cold Spring Village for a June field trip.

Stephens' hands-on approach appears to have made an impression on the young students, who easily handled questions about Cold Spring Village and 19th-century life.

And the students appeared to make an equal impression on Stephens.

"Every year, I look forward to coming here," he said.