On the University’s campus, students of all ages have discovered the wonder of time travel – without The Magic School Bus.
Nestled right next to Common’s Marketplace and Kohl Hall is a little red schoolhouse, built in 1875 in Norwalk, Ohio. The schoolhouse was transferred to the University in 1975 and became a living history museum for schools in the area and education majors.
The building was located at the edge of a farm property in Huron County and was already 100 years old before they started moving it brick by brick, said Deb Leuck, secretary to the Dean of Education. It took nine full weeks to completely restore the center on the University’s campus.
‘Only 12 colleges or universities in the whole United States have this type of schoolhouse on its property,’ she said. ‘It was a great gift for all kinds of students and helps make our education programs a little more unique.’
The Education Memorabilia Center is open free of charge daily and some weekends for students or families wanting a tour, Leuck said. And for two weeks in the fall and spring, the center becomes a prime spot for third and fourth grade field trips.
‘It helps with the student experience,’ she said. ‘It shows a vast comparison from 1875 to 2008 and how times have changed in the classroom.’
From school bells to slate tablets, the schoolhouse houses history, she added. It is important to keep an exact replica of history because it ends up being a better teaching tool.
Joanne Kessen, retired St. Aloysius teacher, recently became the ‘school marm’ at the center. During the 1800s, teachers could not be married and the way teachers taught was a lot different from the way teachers teach now, she said.
‘I have always loved history and I love education,’ Kessen said. ‘We do a lot of prep and have younger students dress the part, bring in lunches in handkerchiefs and buckets and we even put them on the dunce stool.’
Kessen said the dunce caps are the first thing the students notice about the center, and sitting them on the stool in front of their friends is a great way to teach a lesson.
‘It’s much better than sitting in the classroom; these kids get to experience history and play a part,’ she said.
And having a living history museum on campus not only shows University students how times have changed, but also helps them in their future lesson plans, said senior education major Rachel Williams.
‘It’s a really neat place and it not only shows some cool field trip ideas in this area, but also gives [education] majors an idea of what to look for if they teach elsewhere,’ she said. ‘And it’s better to show history rather than show a photo of history.’
Leuck said there are other cool things about the center that most people don’t know, such as the message in the bottle they found while moving. When they removed the note from the bottle, it just turned to dust. To this day, there is some curiosity about that note.
‘Even we were finding some history as we were moving the center, which shows the whole place is historical, and not just the items in it,’ she said. ‘This is a different type of learning experience and Bowling Green strives to provide a different setting where students can get out of the classroom and back in the 1800s.’
