“”Fifth-grade students from State Road Elementary School spent time outside, sifting through layers of dirt to see what secrets may be revealed.
The students, along with members from the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center (MVAC), and the La Crosse Community Forest Project spent an afternoon working on the very early stages of a new community trail. The City of La Crosse is planning to construct an access trail connecting State Road Elementary School to Chad Erickson Memorial Park. “The focus of our trail project is improving conservation, recreation, and education,” said La Crosse Community Forest project coordinator Jed Olson.
Prior to site prep work being done for the trail, the MVAC was on site at State Road Elementary School to work with fifth-graders doing shovel tests. The area is labeled as an archeological zone by the city because of previous artifact and burial site discoveries. The proposed trail site has a high likelihood of more archaeological evidence from Native American groups dating back 600 – 900 years. The MVAC will educate students about the archaeological processes, the history of the area’s peoples, and let the students help look for evidence of previous activity.
“Archaeology is an innovative vehicle for teaching a wide variety of subjects through a multidisciplinary approach,” said MVAC research archaeologist and educational coordinator Jean Dowiasch. “Archaeology is a great tool for tapping into kids’ natural curiosity about the world around them and learning about the people of the past.”
“As we kick off our studies in all subject areas in these first few weeks, we are working to ensure that our students know that we are all scientists, we are all readers, we are all writers, we are all mathematicians, we are all connected like the trails through our forest,” said State Road teacher Jeanie Ruprecht. “Today, we were archaeologists. Regardless of what we discover, we will know and understand that the past shaped today and today will shape the future.”
Learn more about the work of the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center visit their website at http://mvac.uwlax.edu/.“”””[vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-nwHuWkigQ” align=”center”]””
