To complement their studies in “community views,” 55 first-graders from Sale International Studies Magnet School Thursday were treated to a driving tour of various Columbus landmarks, with Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau Project Manager Nancy Carpenter as their tour guide.
“It was wonderful; they were the most well behaved, inquisitive children I have seen,” Carpenter said. “All 55 sat with me in the parlor at the Tennessee Williams home and they asked wonderful questions about Columbus, about Tennessee Williams, about the (Tennessee-Tombigbee) Waterway. And any questions that I asked them, someone in that group of first-graders had an answer, which I thought was impressive for that age.”
The tour began at the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center and included a drive through Friendship Cemetery.
“I liked it when we got on the bus,” said Makyah Lee, 7, the daughter of Keneithia Lee. “I learned that there was a war, the Civil War. I think it was cool. And I learned there”s a farmers” market.”
In all Sale first-grade classrooms, students have participated in an International Baccalaureate “community views” inquiry, discussing how communities can be diverse, yet share common elements and comparing Columbus with other cities, like Galway, Ireland.
“We covered what a community consists of and defined what a community is and all the components that make up a community,” said Sale teacher Flora Edwards, who accompanied the children on the driving tour. “We also talked about the neighborhoods they lived in.
“We could visually see some of the things our city has,” she continued. “Our city is full of historic things, buildings. Even though they probably see those buildings all the time, (the students) got some of the history.
“Being able to visually see the history and our community helped them get a clear picture of what our community consisted of. We were also able to work on some of our attitudes and profiles where they were able to show respect and be in line (with their behavior).”
“It was good,” Zachary Wilson, 6, said of the driving tour, noting Columbus is like Galway, “because they both have some of the things we have,” like “fire stations and police stations.”
The son of Juanita and Tyrone Wilson, his favorite part of the tour was “where we went to see the big houses, because they look pretty.”
At the end of the tour, half of the students visited Dixie Butler”s historic home, Temple Heights, and the other half visited the Stephen D. Lee Home on Seventh Avenue North.
The son of Kim and Richard Suber, Zach Suber, 6, particularly was impressed with the Stephen D. Lee home.
“We went to the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center, and he was born in a hospital and he wrote books, lots of them,” he said. “The thing I liked the best was when I saw that statue that looked like a tiger in the yard (at the Lee home). It was really a big cat.”
“That”s hard,” he responded, when asked what he learned on the tour. “But I know something else I did like was giant mirrors (in the Lee home).”
Would he like to live in the house?
“Oh, yes,” he replied, smiling brightly with eyes widened.
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