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Rivers, Roads, and Rails
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Welcome to the Rivers, Roads, and Rails member homepage, presented by Euclid City Schools.
| Rivers, Roads and Rails is a three year grant experience for teachers located in 38 districts along the heritage corridor of the Ohio & Erie Canalway. The heritage corridor extends from Cleveland to Zoar. The purpose of the grant experience is to improve teaching American History by emphasizing place-base learning. Equally important is building a community of learners across grade levels and school districts. Partners in the grant include the National Parks Service, the Cuyahoga National Park Association, and Cleveland State. Dr. Mark Tebeau authored the grant application in collaboration with Jennie Vasarhelyi (NPS), and Dave Irvine (CVNPA). Dr. Janice M. Gallagher serves as the Project Manager. Euclid City School District is the fiscal manager.
During the first year the content focused on rivers--specifically the Ohio & Erie Canal, which is a man-made river. Over forty-five teachers participated the first year representing first grade through high school A.P. History and chemistry. The participants attended workshops in February 2006 and May. Historical Interpreter, Foster Brown (aka "Digger Gallagher"), made a huge impression on the teachers as he performed songs he'd written about the canal. Teachers visited the Boston Store and the Canal Visitors' Center where they saw a demonstration of the locks, met historian interpreters, "Canal Cecil" and "Mrs. Gleason." At the Canal Visitors' Center, participants completed a scavenger hunt.
Participants applied for participation in the Grant by submitting a district nomination form and a personal information sheet. Participants each recruited a partner who gave the pre-test and a post-test. (on rrr website) Partner teachers received a small stipend for administering the pre-test and post-test. The CVNPA was responsible for distributing the the pre-tests and post-tests, as well as collecting them. We gave the data to our data man, who generated the final statistics.
Participants in RRR grant experience receive books and materials to read before attending the workshops. During the first year, they received THE HISTORY OF THE WESTERN RESERVE, A MIDWIFE'S TALE, Down to Earth, and American Green, as well as many articles about the life of the canalers and construction of the Ohio & Erie Canal. For each workshop they attended, pariticpants received a certificate .
Teachers received a small stipend for each workshop they attended, and the grant defrayed the cost of a substitute. Participants were also encouraged to author their own mini-grant applications. They sent in their receipts with a final report of the grant experience. Many of the teachers invited Foster Brown to visit their classes to talk about the digging of the Ohio & Erie Canal.
Teachers loved learning about the Ohio & Erie Canal. Many had lived their entrie lives near the canal and had never visited it or learned its history. |
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Kenyon College, Case Western Reserve University, Tuscarawas-Carroll-Harrison Educational Services Center, Ohio & Erie National Heritage Canalway, National Park Service
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