Washington Kids to Explore History

By Sharon Woods Harris                         Pekin Times Staff Writer

"These people are a great resource. These people are between 70 and 80 years old now. If we don't take advantage of this resource now one day it will be gone." Sixth-grade teacher Diane Schueler.

When Washington Intermediate School was young, Pekin was in the midst of the Great Depression.

Most students didn't have fancy clothes or hot lunches; their home lives may have been strained because their parents were striving to earn a living in a bad economy. The district was poor in comparison to today.

More than 700 Washington students are going to find out what their counterparts were like 68 years ago. To do that, the district is in search of past students who attended the school in its first 10 years.

They are going back in time for a massive research project to learn more about students from 1929 to 1939 to see what their interests were, what the newly- built school was like, how families fared in the Depression and more.

The project, "When Washington School Was Young - 1929 to 1939", is the brainstorm of sixth-grade teacher Diane Schueler.

Schueler has brought the Daily Times, the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society, and the Pekin Public Library in on the project.

She said the project is unique in that the outcome is unknown.

"We want to find out what Washington kids were like then," she said. "We want to teach students what real research is, not just report facts."

Schueler said when students research historical events such as the Civil War the outcome is already known - The North won. In this project, however, she wants students to see what life was really like for children in Pekin during the Great Depression.

"These people are a great resource. These people are between 70 and 80 years old now, Schueler said.

"If we don't take advantage of this resource now one day it will be gone. After the students have the opportunity to interview these people then they ( the seniors ) will have the opportunity to give the students insight into what their life was like. Each one is unique, different, and that is what makes this project unique. That's the unknown."

Schueler wants at least one senior per classroom, but prefers two. She said 29 classes will need people to interview. Graduation records and class reunion groups have furnished some alumni for the project.

Schueler wants students to talk to people who graduated as well as those who had to quit school to help support the family.

Schueler said special arrangements at another location could be made for seniors who don't feel they are up to climbing the stairs at the school.

As part of the project, the interviews will be taped and donated to the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society as living testimonies to the past.

The society is in the process of copying old District 108 Board minutes that have been discovered in the basement of the school. The minutes, dating back to 1869, were supposed to have been shipped to Springfield.

Schueler said the district is also asking people with diaries or memorabilia from students of the era to come forward if they want to help with the project. They will be used along with old issues of the times, pictures, county and city records, artifacts, time capsule components, city directories and catalogs of the time to search for hints of the past.

Washington Intermediate School Principal Brad Hutchison said he looks forward to the project because it will unite students at the school.

"We have four tribes, what we are calling villages this year at the school," Hutchison said. There are two classes in each village.

"These kids share lunch, recess and group activities together," he said. "What I think this project will do is to unite the school to create a sense of belonging through all groups. This is sort of an early birthday celebration."

Schueler said the project will conclude in April, but she hopes others will follow yearly with successive 10-year spans.

People with diaries and other records for use in the project, and those who want to be interviewed, can call Schueler at 346-7473 days or 347-6774 evenings.