The notes from teachers gush over the experience :
“ The best field trip ever !” “ An amazing and transformative opportunity !” “ The highlight of the entire year !”
In a region full of great outings for elementary school kids , these teachers aren ’ t talking about their students ’ day at an amusement park , ice cream factory , science museum or colonial farm .
The object of their enthusiasm is a low-key , unassuming but totally engaging experience for kids : a day of authentic 1880s education at the Seneca Schoolhouse , an historic one-room school on River Road in western Montgomery County , a mile west of Seneca Creek . It ’ s a hands-on , role-playing immersion in an earlier time . The classroom lessons and rules of conduct are unfamiliar and fascinating to today ’ s children .
Students assume the name and identity ( assigned in advance ) of a local child who attended the Seneca school — the son or daughter of a farmer , blacksmith , quarry worker or boat family on the nearby C & O Canal . They are encouraged to dress in clothes of the era — work shirts and dungarees for the boys , long dresses , skirts , aprons and long-sleeved blouses for the girls .
They leave behind their cell phones and computer tablets , using instead the original personal digital device — digital as in “ finger ”— a small slate on which they write their spelling and arithmetic lessons with a soapstone stylus .
More than a century separates the generations of children at the Seneca Schoolhouse pictured here , but under the guidance of teacher Julie Shapiro , who authentically follows in the footsteps of the school ’ s first school teacher , Miss Darby , today ’ s children share in the one-room classroom experience of their predecessors , happily taking on their persona and enjoying the lesson plans , activities , and chores of times gone by .
8 plenty I summer growing 2022