We recently learned about this project, and just had to share it with you because we thought it was such a cute and novel idea!
Martha P. King Elementary teacher Mrs. Lisa Combs has partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and local venues to help her Fifth Grade Social Studies students learn more about our local history and explore our surrounding area, for class credit.
This week, all students in her class have received this Passport Book with a special assignment! Students and their families are to visit each location in their ‘passport book’ and fill out what they learned at each venue. They’re encouraged to also draw, take pictures and really mark up their books! The locations include:
- Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum
- Lake Mead Cruises
- Boulder City Historic District Walking Tour
- Reflections Center
- Nevada Southern Railway Excursion
- Rail Explorers
- Lake Mead Visitor Center
- BC Downtown Mural and Sculpture Walking Tour
- Clark County Museum
- Nevada Southern Railway Museum
- Hoover Dam Lodge
- Hoover Dam Tour
- Flightlinez Bootleg Canyon
- Boulder City Art Guild and Gallery
Some of these venues are free and others do have some costs associated, and the students have the full school year to complete their booklets.
Mrs. Combs says she got the idea last year when she was holding a parent-teacher conference, when a grandmother asked her what she was doing to teach the students local history. She said that in 5th grade the focus was on US History, and that youngsters focus on local history earlier, in third grade. But she said, that question got her thinking…and she came up with this idea, and then reached out to Jill Lagan at the Chamber of Commerce to help her connect to resources she wasn’t able to on her own.
Says Mrs. Combs, “the more we know about our past, and our community, the better prepared we are for the future.” Indeed! We look forward to possibly running into these youngsters around town!
