2009.06.01
Andrew Lewis eighth graders step closer to local history
Eighth graders at Andrew Lewis Middle School took a walk through local history at East Hill Cemetery on Friday morning, May 29, and their teachers incorporated math, science, social studies, English, and even physical education into the lesson.
"I think they were probably kind of puzzled about what we were going to do," said Brian Hooker, the eighth grade World Geography teacher. They started the unit after their World Geography SOL test. "I didn't tell them any specifics. The teachers and I made the sheets up and I didn't pass them out until they got on site."
In the cemetery, students were given a worksheet and searched through their assigned plots - questions about the headstones' weathering and which stones might last longer dealt with science. Math questions entailed finding the youngest and oldest occupants of the graves - as well as figuring average ages of females or males.
Social studies questions dealt with indications of social standings and religious faith, the cemetery's location, and places people came from before dying in Salem. English queries included finding interesting epitaphs and how they indicated things about their owners.
It all started with the end of their World Geography lesson on May 21. Social studies teacher Brian Hooker's inspiration was the book "Salem: A Virginia Chronicle" by Norwood C. Middleton.
"I used it as a main resource to talk about local history, and I learned a lot. And I'd like to say that my students learned a lot, too," he said. They started out at the Indians, and by May 30 they were in the Civil War, Hooker said. He hopes to make it to World War II next week.
A quick chat with students Jordan Dixon and Josh Carr proved that the knowledge was sinking in.
"You were more distinguished if you had a bigger stone," said Dixon. A memorable epitaph for her was that of David Bittle's: "Faithful unto Death."
Carr learned that Andrew Lewis isn't just an obscure mention that Salem has held onto - he realized that Lewis is actually buried in East Hill. Another famous family he noticed was that of Nathaniel Burwell.
