As thousands of Utahns enjoy parades, rodeos, fireworks, and other festivities to celebrate Pioneer Day, it’s time to pack up and take a field trip for a hands-on lesson in history for some Jordan School District elementary school students.

On this episode of the Supercast, we follow teachers and their students to “This is the Place Heritage Park” where the life and times of Utah’s early settlers come alive. It is a live history lesson you won’t want to miss.

Audio Transcription

Ms. Crane:
It brings it to life for the students. And it doesn't matter what they see here, they go away with an appreciation of what the pioneers went through.

Anthony Godfrey:
So you're just steering from behind right now. These are some big ruts you're dealing with.

Student:
Is this what they have to do, the whole thousand miles?

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, on the bad patches, I suspect it was.

[MUSIC]

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. As thousands of Utahns enjoy parades, rodeos, fireworks, and other festivities to celebrate Pioneer Day, it's time to pack up and take a field trip for a hands-on lesson in history for some Jordan School District Elementary School students. On this episode of the Supercast, we follow teachers and their students to This Is The Place Heritage Park, where the lives and times of Utah's early settlers come alive. It is a live history lesson you won't want to miss.

[MUSIC]

Anthony Godfrey:
We're talking with Ms. Crane at This Is The Place Heritage Park. You have a bunch of students here today, tell us about that.

Ms. Crane:
They're so excited we've been talking about pioneers and finally they get to finally experience the stuff that we've been talking about. The hand carts and school, they're going to be able to go to a pioneer school and see what it was like.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Oh wow.

Ms. Crane:
And we get to ride the train, which is exciting for them, and go to the saddle shop, so just different things that the pioneers experienced. These guys get to see and do, and some of them will never make it up here, so this is a fun field trip for them to experience that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I have to admit, I've never been to this park myself, so I'm glad that you got me here as well.

Ms. Crane:
Yay.

Anthony Godfrey:
And this makes the learning that you've been doing in class very real. You've been doing this for a number of years. Tell me about the impact that this field trip has on students.

Ms. Crane:
It brings it to life for the students. And it doesn't matter what they see here. They go away with an appreciation of what the pioneers went through and a knowledge of stuff that we've been talking about, hands-on experience. So it brings you up to the kids.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, today this is the place because it's beautiful. It's the end of May. We're going to be playing this in July, or posting it in July, but the foothills are bright green. It looks beautiful up here. This is a great way to spend an afternoon in May with your fourth graders. So I see that they're already lined up on some of the hand carts over there, some students are. Tell me about some of the experiences they have while they're here.

Ms. Crane:
They'll get to pull the hand carts, push. At one point they'll be pushing and then they'll switch and they'll be pulling the hand cart. So they see how hard it was going, because they make it really rocky and hilly out there for them. So they experience that. When they go to the school, they will learn that they used to have to line up boys' line and the girls' line. And they had to curtsy and bow to the teacher.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, okay.

Ms. Crane:
So then they-

Anthony Godfrey:
Did you put curtsying and bowing to the teacher into your regular rotation?

Ms. Crane:
I tried that. They just laugh at me. And then they learn the Deseret alphabet of what the pioneer children were learning.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yes, the Deseret alphabet.

Ms. Crane:
Way back then. And then today we go to the saddle shop. I haven't been to the saddle shop for a while. And so they'll learn how they used to do the saddles, what kind of materials that they need, where they get their materials. So that's kind of interesting.

Anthony Godfrey:
I grew up in Indiana, not Utah, so I did not get to go to any of these places. I also didn't have a Utah history class, so it's good to gain a little extra knowledge here today about Utah history. How many years have you been bringing students up here, and has it changed over time?

Ms. Crane:
I've been doing this about 30 years.

Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.

Ms. Crane:
And it's changed a lot. It's very different than it used to be. They've brought in more buildings. They've refined the experience a little better. So the kids get to ride on the train, which is a new thing.

Anthony Godfrey:
Do the kids get pretty excited like they have to? They know it's coming. They're in third grade, and they know next year we get to go to This Is The Place Heritage Park.

Ms. Crane:
They're excited. One year, a couple of years ago, the water main broke the day that we were coming up, and it just devastated the fourth graders, cuz we didn't get to come. Cuz they had big problems up here that day, and I was really sad.

Anthony Godfrey:
That's too bad.

Ms. Crane:
Cuz we've been waiting for the whole year.

Anthony Godfrey:
They've been looking forward to it, okay.

Ms. Crane:
Yes, it has changed a lot. They've really made it more enjoyable. It was always enjoyable, but they just honed in and made it so much fun.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, it's really engaging even just walking in here. There was a lot to see, a lot that I hated to pass up as I caught up with you guys.

Ms. Crane:
One of the nice things about bringing them here is a lot of times the kids will bring their parents back in the summer to see some of the stuff that they weren't able to see before. So they'll get to come up here and experience with their families.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Ms. Crane:
That's part of them coming up here and experiencing that.

Anthony Godfrey:
I love that involvement.

Ms. Crane:
And the fun thing about doing Utah history with the kids in fourth grade is they have more of an appreciation when they hit seventh grade.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Ms. Crane:
And really dig into it more than I get a chance to do that now.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Ms. Crane:
So.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is Utah history one of your favorite things to teach?

Ms. Crane:
Yes, I love teaching Utah history. I just don't have enough time to get everything in that I want to get in.

Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of your favorite things to teach?

Ms. Crane:
The mountain men.

Anthony Godfrey:
I saw there's an event in June with the mountain men up here.

Ms. Crane:
Yeah.

Anthony Godfrey:
Tell us more about that.

Ms. Crane:
One of our teachers just went to an event last weekend, Memorial weekend in Ogden. I'd never heard about it, but they have this big rendezvous in Ogden. And she went up to the rendezvous and was able to get some stuff to share with the kids.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Ms. Crane:
So that was kind of exciting. I loved when the pioneers came across from Nauvoo and the trek that they took. I like to put them in wagons. And then they draw cards every day to see what kind of conditions they're experiencing that day. They might have lost all their water. They might have had an animal die. It was great weather they get to go 15 miles ahead. So they're trying to reach Salt Lake.

Anthony Godfrey:
So that random factor gets thrown into the mix.

Ms. Crane:
Yes. So that's kind of a fun thing to do with them is have them experience that.

Anthony Godfrey:
Very cool. That's great. Well, there's nothing like being right here in the setting that can really provide that hands-on experience. There's a lot of participation and a lot of attention being paid here. They're into it.

Ms. Crane:
Yeah, some of them have never been here and this is exciting for them.

Anthony Godfrey:
There's the train in the background. There they go.

Ms. Crane:
One of our groups.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. So, speaking of other groups, you were on the podcast earlier because one of your former students is teaching. But there are others in the District that you taught who are now teachers.

Ms. Crane:
Yes, I taught Emily Crane. She's at Elk Meadows. And Kristen Clegg. I don't know exactly what school she's at right now, but they're former students of mine.

Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.

Ms. Crane:
I actually taught with Emily at Elk Meadows.

Anthony Godfrey:
Is Emily a relation?

Ms. Crane:
Nope, no relation.

Anthony Godfrey:
No relation?

Ms. Crane:
No relation to me. Except a year of teaching. I had Emily when I taught a third fourth split at Riverton Elementary. And I taught Kristen Riverton Elementary also. So it's nice to see some of my former students come on to be. They're amazing teachers.

Anthony Godfrey:
I bet they are. They had a good start. You start learning by watching your own teachers.

Ms. Crane:
They're amazing.

Anthony G...

Episode 307: Students Take a Step Back in Time as Utahn’s Celebrate Pioneer Day