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November 19, 2009

Russell Dougherty students stake a claim on statehood

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  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Reid Whitaker� father, Ken Whitaker built the wagon for the Maverick family during Russell Dougherty� Oklahoma Statehood Day celebration. Reid was in charge of making dolls and sewing quilts for her family. Patty Miller

    land run

  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Third-grader Rylie Mills works on making a blanket Thursday during Russell Dougherty Elementary� Oklahoma Statehood Day event. The students went on a land run, staked claims for their homesteads and then participated in an interactive history lesson by sharing five things they learned about the person they portrayed. Patty Miller

    land run

  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Russell Dougherty third-grader Michael Huang watches as Isabella Mottola makes butter the old-fashioned way. The butter maker for the Smith family, Isabella had to explain five things about how to make butter during the interactive history lesson attended by students in the lower grades. Patty Miller

    land run

  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Joanna Imes�third-grade students hear last-minute instructions before racing in the Oklahoma Statehood Day Land Run. Russell Dougherty third-graders held a land run and staked their claims before participating in an interactive history lesson for other students. The celebration was postponed from Monday to Thursday because of H1N1 vaccinations being given at the school. Patty Miller

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Patty Miller

EDMOND — Students portrayed Oklahoma pioneers across the playground with wagons in tow Thursday as they celebrated Oklahoma Statehood Day at Russell Dougherty Elementary School.

Although Oklahoma Statehood Day was Monday, the school was giving H1N1 vaccinations and had to reschedule the event to Thursday.

From Radio Flyer wagons magically made into miniature Conestogas to a teepee set up on the land staked by the students, the crisp morning air greeted the pioneers as they proceeded to stake their plot and set up their homestead.

Even the parents got into the act. Ken Whitaker, Reid Whitaker's father, made a handmade wooden wagon right down to the wooden wheels for his daughter’s group and donated it to the school.

“I remodel mostly,” Ken said, “and I just made the design up and built it from scratch.”

The 46 students formed nine family groups as a culmination of the Oklahoma Statehood unit. Each child had a role to play and they shared the information they learned with the younger students as they filed through the interactive living history exhibits.

Ryan Danley, a member of the Washington family, brought along the only outhouse, complete with a pail.

For $14 in play money each family could purchase their land.

The wind gave some of the families trouble as they set up their camps, built their houses and started their meals.

As one cardboard shed kept falling down, Brennyn May of the Jones family said, “If that doesn’t work we can tape it to the ground. This is our land and we can do what we want to.”

One of the students was busy with his cardboard washboard, setting up to do the laundry.

“I watched a video on YouTube today,” said Michael Coons, a member of the Starr family. “You have to have a washboard to wash your clothes.”

From farmers to blacksmiths to hunters to bakers, cooks, wood carvers, doll makers and clothes washers, the children pitched in and performed their duties.

Students studied what pioneers had to do to survive from cattle drives to making gardens.

“We celebrate Oklahoma’s Statehood Day and where we come from in November, and in the spring we do the Trail of Tears and focus on Native Americans,” said third-grade teacher Sarah Starr.

“I always tell them about my grandfather who wrote ‘The Crying Owl,’ a story about how my great-grandfather was adopted by an Irish family after his family died on the Trail of Tears.

“I share both sides. In addition to giving a good balance, it makes it more personal to the students.”

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