South Williamsport students share catalogued history of the district with the school board, will hold an open house

Highlighting a recent history preservation project, South Williamsport Superintendent Dr. Eric Briggs welcomed students Aubrey Rissell, Oliver Miller, Brady Miller, Scarlett Hertwig, Brylee Seagraves and Nolan Manikowski to present some of their findings at a recent school board meeting.

The project came about after sixth grade teacher Andrew Brown, while teaching local history to his students, went looking for a particular scrapbook from around the time of Rommelt's construct, and discovered a treasure trove of local historical documentation in the school's storage area.

The students viewed documentation including land deeds, hand-written school board minutes, teacher's salaries and more, with some documentation dating as far back as 1883.

All items were viewed, cataloged and organized by the students.

"While accomplishing these tasks, we got to see, learn and understand the history of the school district," a student said during the presentation.

Some photos displayed for the board included photos of the football and basketball teams, including one of the 1931 team at Mountain Beach, as well as other student groups including the band, theatre and orchestra clubs.

Several construction photos from Central Elementary, the current Junior/Senior High School were on display, as well as one from the 1929 ground breaking for Rommelt.

The students also presented several staff and faculty photos, including one of board President Todd Engel being honored as "student of the month."

"And while Mr. Brown assures us the following photo is not that old, we found one of a certain school board president," a student said, drawing laughter from the board and audience.

"Mr. Brown, I gotta get my hands on that picture because I don't remember it," Engel joked.

The district will hold an open house for the community to view the various historical items from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, June 9.

"You did an excellent job. Mr. Brown, thank you for your time and effort with these young men and women. I'm looking forward to the open house," Briggs said.

"That was so impressive, the way they presented their work and just how cool it is that they're able to do hands-on stuff with primary sources," added board member Summer Bukeavich.

"Research now, for a lot of young students, is just internet based. So I just think that's a cool opportunity to really practice their work," she said.