Sunday, March 5, 2000

Kids travel back in time to pen seniors' memories

Paul Iverson/Caller-Times

Karen Mauch, a teacher at Meadowbrook Elementary School, is surrounded by other participants of the 'Remembering Life Biographies' project (Back row, from left): Samantha Trevino, 10; Abbey Pollard, 10; Shannon Keeney, 9. (Front row, from left): Carmen Ruth, a Cimmaron resident; Amanda Rodriguez, 10; Mauch; and Mary Garana Allen, a Cimmaron resident.

ABBEY Pollard could only describe it as weird. But for 76-year-old Santos Garcia, what seemed weird to 10-year-old Abbey was real life growing up in the 1930s and '40s.
   "She lived in a house that was over 100 years old and that didn't have any glass on the windows," said Abbey, who has written a biography of Garcia as part of a fourth-grade Meadowbrook Elementary project titled "Remembering Life Biographies."
   Like Abbey, Garcia went to school every morning as a youngster.
   "But she had a different classroom than the whites," said Abbey, amazed that life in this country had once been so segregated.
   "She had to wear dresses to school and only the boys were allowed to wear pants and shirts. After school, she played baseball in the street with neighborhood kids."
   Abbey and 74 other participating Meadowbrook students visited Cimmaron Senior Apartments in January to record interviews with 15 residents.
   The project, spearheaded by Meadowbrook teachers Karen Mauch, Leslie Levy, John Zaragosa and Margaret Thornton, concludes Thursday when they return to Cimmaron to present each senior with their own bound book biography.
   "It was fun to travel back in time and learn what life was like back then," Abbey said, "but it made me appreciate being a kid in the year 2000."
   The eight-week project, made possible by a $1,500 grant, was an enrichment activity that the teachers developed, in part inspired by a multigenerational book on the students' reading list "Time For Andrew," about a young boy who travels back to 1910 and meets his ancestors. For their 28-page books, Meadowbrook students included photographs of seniors, illustrations, timelines and a page about the author.
   Students also researched their own family trees, kept a daily diary and recreated a 1910 picnic at the school, complete with period costumes and music popular at the turn of the century.
   Shannon Keeney, 9, found some of the games played at the picnic were not only archaic, but completely foreign to her.
   She'd played jacks on occasion before, but never marbles and croquet.
   "They were so old-fashioned, but still, they were fun," said Shannon, adding that she would never - "No way!" - trade her CDs, roller blades, video games and bike for the picnic novelties.
   Mary Gara¤a Allen, a 67-year-old retired teacher, said the collaboration was a great way for one generation to enrich the generation that follows.
   "They were impressed with what we had accomplished in life," Allen said, "and were eager to know what we recommended for them, how they could succeed in life and be a good person. My suggestion to them was to not grow up too fast. Look for what is good, and don't be ashamed to be good."
  
  
 

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