During the months of February and March 2018 the Erie Canal Exhibit, Two Hundred Years on the Erie Canal, curated by the Western New York Library Resources Council and sponsored by a Humanities New York Action Grant, has been on display in the middle school library of the Adirondack Central School District, in Boonville, NY. Our students have had the opportunity to spend time learning some amazing facts from this exceptional, museum-quality exhibit. Delores Krutz used the exhibit as an assignment by bringing her 6th grade ELA students to the library to view and read the vast amount of information contained in the display through historical illustrations, lithographs, photographs, and richly detailed text. She turned this enrichment activity into a scavenger hunt with them searching for the answers to several key questions. By utilizing this method, it gave the students an exciting way to learn about the necessity and function of the Erie Canal. Having the display in the library also provided an out of classroom adventure, as we constantly seek to provide new and exciting learning opportunities for our students.
Here in Boonville, NY, we live along the banks of the Black River Canal and seeing this resource gave our students a way to connect our local history with that of the entire state of New York. The exhibit brought the rich canal history of our Central New York area to life. They could truly see how everything was centered upon canal life, and how our own area was an important piece of the overall trade and commerce of the great state of New York.
We are so grateful for the opportunity to borrow and display this exhibit. We live in a rural area and it is refreshing when we are able to bring the world to our students. Many of them have never been to a museum and to share such a quality exhibit with them has been priceless.
Many thanks go to Christi Sommerfeldt of the NNYLN for making this loan possible for us.