In honor of the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, students at Clearbrook Elementary spent the week of April 16-20 experiencing what life aboard the Titanic may have been like.

The idea first came about in January when a student mentioned to the librarian, Mrs. Marcy Wohlford, that this year was the 100^th anniversary of the sinking. Mrs. Wohlford thought that would make a great special event in the library and started planning.

As students came to the library April 16-20, they walked across a bridge onto the “Titanic” where they were greeted by two cardboard “passengers” modeling clothing from the Titanic period. Students could then peruse the photo gallery and see pictures of the Titanic, as well as passengers and crew.

Next to the photo gallery was the A La Carte Dining Room, complete with linen table cloth, china, crystal and silver serving pieces. Students also had the opportunity to play shuffle board (on a table by sliding an air hockey puck) or sit in deck chairs on the Promenade Deck and enjoy the ocean breezes. There was even a lifeboat with paddles and oars to be used only in case of emergency.

During class periods, Captain Edward Smith (aka Mrs. Wohlford) recounted his memories of setting sail from England up to the sinking of the ship. One of the highlights of the week incorporated a project done by Mrs. Ashley Williams and Mrs. Meg Swecker’s fourth grade students at Green Valley Elementary School. Their class had written reports on passengers of the Titanic and assigned each one a QR (quick read) code which can be read with a smart device. The Clearbrook students were able to scan the codes with iPads and then read the reports that were done by the GVES students.

It was a great week, but, unfortunately, we all know the story didn’t end happily ever after.

Submitted by Clearbrook Elementary School.