Volunteers build schoolhouse replica

By: K.C. GERRITSEN - For the North County Times | Friday, June 17, 2005 9:20 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- With paintbrushes, paint cans and can-do attitudes, a handful of volunteer workers gathered at the Escondido Children's Museum on Friday to recreate a 19th-century schoolhouse based on the one-room schools typical of Escondido's settlement era.

When completed, a detailed and interactive replica of a "little red schoolhouse" will transport a little piece of local history into the 21st century.

"The goal of this exhibit is to provide children with an opportunity to experience what life was like for kids just like them in Escondido more than 100 years ago," said museum founder and Executive Director, Katie Ragazzi. "It's that living history experience."

Set up in the museum's back patio, the museum staff, along with volunteers and workers from the Escondido Kiwanis Club, the Woodworking Club of North County, and San Marcos-based Sheds Plus by Storage Barns, has been transforming a small, barnlike shed into what will be called the "Orange Glen Schoolhouse."

"We've kind of pulled off a miracle here with these two clubs, this company and these volunteers that have been making this happen," said Ragazzi. "It's a labor of love."

The work will yield an exhibit boasting a mix of authentic display items as well as hands-on elements and activities to pull visiting children and adults into "a sensory environment," according to Ragazzi.

Period pieces, authentic displays and kid-friendly props will fill the space. For interactive fun, kids will find dress-up clothing from the period hanging on pegs and awaiting their imaginations. "That's classic children's museum experience," Ragazzi said, "where you provide a sensory environment so that it's clear what world they're entering when they walk in the door. You don't need any explanatory signage for the kids ---- they get it."

Old-time oak-and-iron school desks will face a teacher's podium and a large faux slate chalkboard will fill the front wall, simulating a functioning classroom. Tin lunch pails, a water bucket and dipper, slate boards, and replica books will provide more hands-on participation for the children.

An authentic 19th-century dress, made from cotton spun, dyed, woven and hand sewn by the maternal great, great-grandmother of local philanthropist Ruth Mangrum, will be displayed in a case at the front of the classroom. As a teenager, Mangrum's ancestor taught in such a dress in a schoolhouse in the mid-1800's.

"It would have been exactly what a teacher would have worn," claimed Ragazzi. "This is the kind of thing that gives (the exhibit) a real, authentic feel."

Ragazzi also hopes the exhibit will inspire others to loan or donate items that would add to the exhibit's authenticity ---- a proper bell and weather vane for the school's cupola, for instance.

But physical items are not the only contributions the museum will be looking for. Visitors, especially those who attended one-room schoolhouses back in the day, will be invited to donate memories in a guest book meant for sharing. "It's an opportunity for them to help make the experience deeper for the children," explained Ragazzi.

Volunteer Len Alton, current Kiwanis president, said exhibits like the schoolhouse contribute positively toward the community while the community reaps rewards in return.

"You need to be here to see the smiles on (the kids') faces," he said. "I think it's a great thing for the community."

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