Photo:  Young Sherlock Holmes: In the front hall of the Boal Mansion, fifth graders from Boalsburg Elementary School use magnifying glasses to look for clues about their American heritage in the blanket chest in which David Boal escaped from Ireland in 1798.

According to Penn State intern Eva Tarbuk, ”The new stations tour is a break-through example of what happens when a school and museum work hand-in-hand.  It is something that was done purely with the interest of the community's children in mind.” Tarbuk graduated May 15 from Penn State University in Art Education after working from January through May on the new tour. She will help guide the students on their June 4 day-long visit to Boalsburg. 

Tarbuk gave special credit to the State College Area School District, saying, “Because of the School District’s willingness to take learning outside of the classroom, the kids will gain a richer education and enjoy history right in their very own backyards.”

Six guides, including Museum CEO Christopher Lee stationed themselves at different points in the Museum equipped with specially-designed visual aids and activities.

In the living room, retired State College Junior High principal John Kriner and retired Archer Daniels Midlands executive John Wainright helped hushed fifth graders re-enact the 1938 deathbed scene of the impoverished Colonel Theodore Davis Boal who said, “I had the honor of inheriting three fortunes and the pleasure of spending them!”

The students then bid “Boal dollars,” earned by participating in previous stations, to buy Monopoly-like shares on the companies Boal founded in the community. After that, they figured out what else they would like to purchase for a better future.

The students then went on a signature scavenger hunt in the library, looking for the original signatures of four presidents associated with the Boal and allied families, including Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter, as well as the original signatures of signer of the Declaration of Independence Richard Henry Lee and the first men on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

After finding these historic signatures, the students signed their own declaration that they had visited the Boal Mansion and that they are committed to shaping the future of their community and nation, just as the famous signers did whose signatures they discovered throughout the Boal Mansion library.

In the front hall, eighth generation Boal family member Christopher Lee helped the children choose tools and attitudes with which to climb the ladder of success, modeled on those used by nine generations of Boals.

The children chose from placards marked farming, military, business, education, law, money, arts and culture and from attitudes such as “imagination” and “risk taking” that described the various phases of the Boal family reflecting the story of America, the emerging nation.

Two children in each session then climbed the gracious, gently sloping stairs in the front hall of the Boal Mansion, placing the placards at each step. At the top of the stairs, they were crowned with success and then asked to say what they will do with all their tools to help shape a bright future for their community.

According to Rossman Styers, the new US History Standard 8.3.6.A calls for students to “interpret the interaction of cultural, economic, geographical, political, and social relations in the land that became the US.”

“We want to help students develop original views and opinions,” she said. “We never expect them to parrot back facts, dates, and figures but instead to use facts, dates, and figures to state connections to meaning, consequences, or possible courses for action.”

“My students say the key to creating enthusiasm about history is to have it connect to their present day,” said Rossman Styers. “A more kid-friendly presentation at the Boal Mansion and Columbus Chapel is a way of doing that. Connecting the community to the school is an integral part of the curriculum.”

In the ballroom, Boal descendant John I. Thompson III, resplendent in white tie and tails, helped the children design an invitation for their families to the Boalsburg Century Ball, an actual ball being held at the Boal Mansion in mid-October as part of Columbus Day activities in historic Boalsburg. 

According to Museum CEO Christopher Lee, the new tour is available to school districts throughout central Pennsylvania as a way to engage students in self-learning while meeting the new US History standards.  

“It is wonderful working with Karen and Eva because they are both skilled and enthusiastic,” said Lee. “The result has been a truly engaging visit for fifth graders.” 

According to Tarbuk, “Ghandi said, ‘Be the change that you want to see in the world.’ With this new tour we are saying, ‘Be the change that you want to see in your community.’  This field trip allows the kids to see just what they have right here in their own backyard in the Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum,” she continued. 

Docent Katey Pereira gathered the students around the outdoor fireplace of the 1789 pioneer cabin that was the beginning of the Boal Mansion and helped them plan to prepare a colonial meal. In the parlor, she gave them a lesson in etiquette and discussed whether we have traded polite dress and conduct for comfort in the present day, and why. 

In the Columbus Chapel, docent Susie Kaleita, from the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State, helped the students determine the elements of religious rituals present in the chapel, a still-consecrated Roman Catholic chapel where Mass is still said once a year on Columbus Day. They also discussed myths about Columbus and voted on which ones they thought were true or false. 

In the weapons room, containing weapons from six generations of Boals dating back to the Revolutionary War, docent Katie Kolesar helped the students discuss the purpose and consequences of military actions and alternatives. 

The story of the Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum was recently broadcast throughout England by BBC-TV and has been broadcast nationwide by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS). 

Rossman Styers reports that an upcoming inservice day program for teachers at the State College Area School District challenges teachers to develop ideas that will help the School District to be “an effective place that connects people, curriculum, classrooms, resources, learning and life.”

“I believe that we have met that challenge with this Boal Mansion project,” concludes Rossman Styers.