 | A blast from a class
in the past | 
Brooklyn teacher Betty Manson took her 4th-graders on a trip back in
time. The class not only revisited a refurbished 1800s one-room
schoolhouse, they experienced it. The class got decked out in knickers
and pinafores to recreate Wisconsin’s past at an authentic
restoration of the Dog Town School House on a country road just south
of Madison. The school was refurbished by its current owner, Phil Gorman, and
others. In fact, the restoration became a community project involving
the Oregon Historical Society. Some of the clothing worn by the
children was sewn by Oregon Senior Center members. Manson herself
attended a two-room school house in the area from 1946 to 1954. Manson (lower left) leads her students off a modern school bus and
into the past. Manson (top) conducts a class the way it was done in
the school 100 years ago. She separates out children by age level and
brings them up in small groups for instruction. For more information
on the project, go to
www.weac.org/kids/1997-98/march98/dogtown.htm. - Photos by Bill Hurley Posted June 12, 1998 |