Scene from a country school in Stockbridge, MI, 1930s.  From the WSU Virtual Motor City Collection at:  http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?c=vmc;page=index

Beginning in April 2006, BCS 3/4 students will embark on a journey to the past where they will discover Michigan’s past.  The students will study the complete timetable through both research in the Media Center with Mrs. Truesdell and in their classrooms with their teachers. 

Many exciting lessons are planned for our students to help them understand how Michigan came to be what it is today.  Students will begin the unit with a study of the Native Americans that first graced our land, followed by a study of the Europeans and their motives.  We will move into lessons on exploration, settlement, and statehood, then continue our studies with the advent of America’s Civil War.  Next, we will research the industries that helped our country to thrive during and after the war—factories and industrialization, farming, lumbering, and mining.  This will take us up to the time that Michigan became America’s “Arsenal of Democracy” during World War II. 

Finally, we will sensitively and delicately teach our students about the Civil Rights movement and the subsequent race riots that broke out so near to our homes in an effort to understand how our diverse yet segregated community came to be.  Like all of the BCS students, the 3/4 team is inquisitive and intuitive; they will surely generate an understanding of where Michigan can go in the future, and how we might change our state for the better.