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Salem Academy Charter School Students Helping Salem 1630: Pioneer Village Restoration
by Erik K. Smith
originally published in the Salem Gazette
Allison Poirot of the Salem Academy Charter School asked Salem Preservation, Inc. if she
could bring a group of 8th graders to see Pioneer Village. She had seen John Goff’s
Preservation Perspective columns in the Salem Gazette and wanted to know if her students
could get involved somehow. One of the missions of the school is service to the
community, and Ms. Poirot and school founder Rachel Hunt hoped they could find a way in
which the students might contribute to the restoration efforts.
On a balmy November afternoon twenty two students and their three chaperones, Ms. Poirot,
Rachel Hunt, and Grace Geddon walked from their Shetland Park school building to Forest
River Park to experience this Salem landmark. The students darted from building to
building, asking insightful questions about how things were built or why. Some of them
remembered visiting with their families when they were younger, the boys all recalling the
fun of meeting Burt Sargent, the Blacksmith.
One of the ideas discussed in emails between the Academy and Salem Preservation was having
the students build a new wigwam in the Spring. It was decided that a good place to start,
with Winter sure to commence at some point, was in the classroom with a model of a
wigwam. The group took photos and listened to stories about how it was built and recently
re-thatched by William Cahill.
During one of the days set aside for Service Learning, the students in Ms. Poirot’s class
discussed how they would make a model. They looked up information on the internet,
printed out what they wanted to use as guides, and set about building. The students read
what they’d printed aloud to each other while they cut reeds, measured branches, made
drawings, and otherwise enthusiastically pushed along their project. They used bundles of
thatch left behind after the roof and wigwam re-thatching project completed at Pioneer
Village in August.
Then on another Service Learning Day, just before the December Vacation, the class met to
make a list of additional ways they could help Pioneer Village. They wanted to know how
they could obtain costumes and learn how to be historic interpreters at the Village. The
kids asked if they could spearhead a volunteer effort to get the community more involved.
Some split off into one group to plan a fundraising effort. Other members of the class
prepared to build a website. The students took photographs of their wigwam model,
interviewed each other about what they were doing, and looked into what other living
history museums have for websites. Work on the wigwam model continued as well. They will
resume their efforts in the New Year and a grateful Salem Preservation will be working
with them.
Erik Smith is a volunteer caretaker at Pioneer Village and the writer and publisher of a
website on Salem’s history, www.salemhistoryonline.com. He is working with the students
at Salem Academy as a representative of Salem Preservation, Inc.
by Erik K. Smith
originally published in the Salem Gazette
Allison Poirot of the Salem Academy Charter School asked Salem Preservation, Inc. if she
could bring a group of 8th graders to see Pioneer Village. She had seen John Goff’s
Preservation Perspective columns in the Salem Gazette and wanted to know if her students
could get involved somehow. One of the missions of the school is service to the
community, and Ms. Poirot and school founder Rachel Hunt hoped they could find a way in
which the students might contribute to the restoration efforts.
On a balmy November afternoon twenty two students and their three chaperones, Ms. Poirot,
Rachel Hunt, and Grace Geddon walked from their Shetland Park school building to Forest
River Park to experience this Salem landmark. The students darted from building to
building, asking insightful questions about how things were built or why. Some of them
remembered visiting with their families when they were younger, the boys all recalling the
fun of meeting Burt Sargent, the Blacksmith.
One of the ideas discussed in emails between the Academy and Salem Preservation was having
the students build a new wigwam in the Spring. It was decided that a good place to start,
with Winter sure to commence at some point, was in the classroom with a model of a
wigwam. The group took photos and listened to stories about how it was built and recently
re-thatched by William Cahill.
During one of the days set aside for Service Learning, the students in Ms. Poirot’s class
discussed how they would make a model. They looked up information on the internet,
printed out what they wanted to use as guides, and set about building. The students read
what they’d printed aloud to each other while they cut reeds, measured branches, made
drawings, and otherwise enthusiastically pushed along their project. They used bundles of
thatch left behind after the roof and wigwam re-thatching project completed at Pioneer
Village in August.
Then on another Service Learning Day, just before the December Vacation, the class met to
make a list of additional ways they could help Pioneer Village. They wanted to know how
they could obtain costumes and learn how to be historic interpreters at the Village. The
kids asked if they could spearhead a volunteer effort to get the community more involved.
Some split off into one group to plan a fundraising effort. Other members of the class
prepared to build a website. The students took photographs of their wigwam model,
interviewed each other about what they were doing, and looked into what other living
history museums have for websites. Work on the wigwam model continued as well. They will
resume their efforts in the New Year and a grateful Salem Preservation will be working
with them.
Erik Smith is a volunteer caretaker at Pioneer Village and the writer and publisher of a
website on Salem’s history, www.salemhistoryonline.com. He is working with the students
at Salem Academy as a representative of Salem Preservation, Inc.
