CAG Archaeology Grant links Bridgeport and Westport students

By Kerstin Warner, Bedford Middle School, Westport

What do broken pots, animal bones, a thimble, buckets of dirt, rulers and trowels have to do with gifted students from Bridgeport and Westport?  This spring, a grant from CAG allowed thirty students to get together and work with these materials and more in a study of archaeology.  Students from Bonnie Hole’s 8th grade gifted math class at Longfellow School in Bridgeport joined Kerstin Warner’s 6th grade gifted students from Bedford Middle School in Westport for five months of unique study.

The goal of our grant experience was to increase student understanding of both archaeology and each other.  We recognized a rare opportunity to bring students from different districts and backgrounds together to study a scientific discipline while getting to know one another.

Over the course of five months, the students learned from guest speakers including Dr. Nick Bellantoni, the Connecticut State Archaeologist; Betsy and Cal Wacker, Westport archaeologists; and Tom Zoubek, Director of the Stamford Historical Society.  The students took field trips together to the Yale archaeology labs and the Peabody Museum, visited each other’s schools, and took an exciting culminating trip to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum.

What was the impact of this grant?  The teachers noticed a measurable increase in the students’ knowledge of the procedures, terminology and ethics of archaeology.  In addition, the students made genuine connections with each other, learning details about each others’ lives and interests that helped them shed stereotypes.  After visiting the Pequot Museum, students showed a real sense of empathy toward the history of the Pequot tribe here in Connecticut.  Most had never considered the history of Native Americans from a viewpoint other than that of the Europeans. 

It is probably best to hear from the students themselves:

From the Longfellow students:

“I learned that life is like planting and nurturing a tree.  It takes hard work to dig the hole for the tree, and in life it takes hard work to finish school. We pour water on the tree to make it grow, in life we learn more and grow in education.”

“My idea about suburban schools before going to Bedford was that the kids would be like my (younger) siblings.  I thought they were going to fool around a lot.  Or that they were going to get on my last nerves because they aren’t really down to heart.  Also that they would be kind of prejudiced.  It turned out to be that they aren’t bad at all, they are mature for their age and very respectful.  It was lots of fun working with them and learning together.

“I got many things out of this program.  I learned to share and that there is more to life than me.”

“I thought suburban schools would be totally different from ours, and it was in appearance, but the students had lots of things in common.  These students taught me and my friends a lot.  We laughed, we hung out, we talked to each other about our two different schools and what we do in them.  So I would like to thank you on behalf of myself and Longfellow School.”

From the Bedford students:

“I thought their school might be run down.  Now I know their school is pretty nice and they help out in the community.  They redecorated their courtyard in their school making it nicer than I had originally thought it would be.  They also repainted fire hydrants.  Overall I liked the experience of working with a different school.”

“I thought the Bridgeport kids wouldn’t be too bright.  I thought that their school was going to be not too nice and sort of messy.  Now that we worked with the Bridgeport kids on many things, I know that they are just as smart as us.  Even though their skin color is different from us, we are alike in many ways.”

“Before when I heard about the Bridgeport kids, I thought that they would be different and I wouldn’t be friends with them.  I thought their school would be scary and run down.  But the kids from Bridgeport are really nice.  They would start conversations using our letters and we could talk about similarities.  Their school was a lot nicer than I thought.  Getting to know the kids really changed my point of view and they are really similar to us, they just look different.”

“The Longfellow kids were very motivated.  Not to say that we Bedford kids aren’t, but the amount of time and effort put into their projects and work was astonishing to me.  They gave their free time over vacations and weekends to accomplish their final product of having a cleaner and safer environment.  When they came to BMS for the archaeology presentations, I had some very interesting conversations with some students.”

 “Now that I have met the Longfellow kids, I have found out that they are really nice and will do their best to be positive.  I have seen that even if they might not have as much funding as other schools, they do as much, if not more, to improve their community and school.  They really inspired me to do something to help my community.”