LH Fifth-graders head to Jumonville for annual program
For the past 36 years, fifth-grade students in the Laurel Highland School District have taken time out of the school week and headed to the Jumonville Christian Camp and Retreat Center for camping and activities. They are participating in the district’s outdoor school, originally a full-week program that has been divided into two 21/2-day seminars to accommodate the growing number of students.
According to Debbie Stanish, teacher-coordinator of the program, 250 fifth-grade students from Hutchinson, Hatfield, Clark and Marshall elementary schools participated in this year’s outdoor school. Stanish said the program offers students hands-on experiences, including an art project, a nature scavenger hunt, an evening with a snake handler, environmental education through the “Recycling Olympics” and a lot of local history.
“There is so much history that happened here and it’s right in their back yard,” Stanish said.
On hand to help teach that history was retired Brownsville Area Middle School history teacher Carl Garofalo, along with members of the Redstone Living Historians.
“Living history is exactly what it says it is. We make it come alive,” Garofalo told the students.
Garofalo gave a brief lesson on the start of the French and Indian War, beginning with the skirmish in Jumonville Glen where a young French officer (Jumonville) was killed by troops led by George Washington.
“To this day, the French history books call him a murderer,” Garofalo said of Washington.
The real cause of the war though was not the death of a young French officer or even a fight over the land, Garofalo said.
“Were we fighting over property or were we fighting over making money?” Garofalo asked.
Holding up a beaver pelt, Garofalo noted that the fur, being relatively waterproof, was prized in Europe for making felt for hats.
“Would you go to war with your neighbors over furry animals? Would you go to war with your neighbors over hats? Let’s do a little math. Each one of these hides is worth about $85. An Indian had to bring in 20 of these (pelts) to get one of these muskets,” Garofalo said.
Each musket cost the traders $500 and 20 pelts brought in $1,700, Garofalo said.
“Am I going to go to war with my neighbors over furry animals now?” Garofalo asked.
The students had an opportunity to look over the types of items used on the frontier in the 18th century and the Redstone Living Historians demonstrated musket and artillery firing.
Stanish said the students also toured the Rindfuss Museum located in the Ann Murphy Lodge at Jumonville. The museum includes artifacts that have been found on the property as well as information about Jumonville’s history as the Union Soldiers’ Orphan School from 1875-1908.
The students stay overnight at Jumonville and are responsible for keeping their rooms clean and for serving each other during meals. They also learn to depend on each another at the Adventure Center as they climb the rock wall, Stanish said.
Stanish said students from California University of Pennsylvania also participate in the program as on-site chaperones. Stanish first participated in outdoor school herself four years ago as a nontraditional Cal U student. This is her second year teaching in the Laurel Highlands School District and her first year as the outdoor school coordinator. She was recently selected by the Uniontown Wal-Mart as the teacher of the year.