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66 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 25, 2005 Youth learn first-person history By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Eighth-grade students at St. Mary’s School are getting a personal glimpse of history, thanks to residents at the Rogue Valley Manor. The school’s annual oral-history project has students interview Manor residents and write a biography. "Besides talking with my grandparents, I hadn’t talked to many older people to see how they lived," said eighth-grader Ross Merrill, 14. His first visit to Rogue Valley Manor this month was a little nerve-racking. "I was so nervous," he said, describing how his fidgeting fingers shredded the sheet of questions he had prepared. Advertisement However, the woman whose life Merrill was assigned to chronicle was an avid Lakers fan, just like he is. "It’s really cool that my interests overlap with hers," he said. As they talked, he gained a new respect for people who lived through the Great Depression, World War II and other events he had only experienced in textbooks. Teacher Erin Bonsi said at first the students and retirees all seemed a little wary about dealing with people that they generally don’t have much contact with. However, former students still talk about the project as one of their favorite middle-school experiences and some of the retirees participate year after year, telling their stories to new groups of students. This is the 11th year the school and the retirement center have partnered on the history project. "We have some veterans and some first-timers, but all these volunteers enjoy sharing their stories," said Melissa Komure, the Manor’s director of recreation. Students and seniors will meet twice a month through the spring. Then the students will write the narratives and create books of the stories they have collected. They’ll present the books to their senior partners at a barbecue lunch in May. "It’s cool to learn about the technological changes they’ve seen," said Angelica LoMonaco, 13. "This is the American experience, to see how their lives were." The kids have heard about family life during the Depression — the rigorous discipline, the childhood chores and even the kind of mischief boys of yore could make with a pop gun that shot cherries. "It’s pretty fun to see about their lives and how different it was than now," said Levi McDonald, 13. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress Advertisement s