Benjamin Stoddert Students at Burch House

On Wednesday April 10 the Port Tobacco Chapter of the DAR sponsored a school trip for eighth graders at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School in Waldorf to both the Thomas Stone National Historic Site and the Historic Port Tobacco Village.  Over a hundred students and teachers came.

CCASM members hosted Burch House, one of the stations in the Port Tobacco Village.  At our station students learned about an eighteenth century two-room house, Washington Burch (an African American who was one of the last owners of the house), and archaeology, of course.  On the way back to the Courthouse, they were taken on a detour to see the Jail House Lot and to learn about James Swann as well as about the archaeology done at the two sites.  It was difficult to fit this all into less than thirty minutes since there was so much to tell.  But it is always interesting to work with young people.

Do archaeologists study dinosaurs?

What is archaeology?

Finding objects in the dirt

Visiting Jail House Lot

Looking at Village that was

At other stations in the village the students learned about merchants and gardens and got to participate in mock court trials.

Thanks to Mary, Linda, Elsie, and Carol for interacting with the students as well as for creating the scripts and activities.