NEWS RELEASE
Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
5/8/2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES - Fifth grade students from Cloutierville Elementary had a chance to learn about some of the culture that is around them every day through a heritage education program put on the graduate program in heritage resources at Northwestern State University.
More than 50 students toured the Badin Roque Historic Site near Natchez and learned about rope making, music and games played by children generations ago.
“This is a wonderful way to show the students where they came from,” said Carol Steward, a fifth grade teacher at Cloutierville Elementary. “Often, these students don’t get out and learn about this things in their own backyard.”
Steward said heritage education programs like this compliment what she is teaching.
“We talk about the history of this area and that it was controlled by the French and the Spanish before the Louisiana Purchase,” said Steward. “By seeing buildings like Badin-Roque and learning about the culture, the students understand the subject better.”
The heritage education project, designed and led by the heritage resources students, focuses on promoting awareness of Creole culture and the at-risk historic architecture of the Badin-Roque house, and will service local underserved schools. The activities are slated for Spring 2008 and Fall 2009.
The project was funded as part of a three-year, $1.2 million grant to the University of Louisiana System from the Learn and Serve America division of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
At Badin Roque, students learned about the archaeological work being done at the site and the architecture of the house. The Badin-Roque House is an example of an early Creole building style known as poteaux-en-terre (posts-in-ground). In this style, the vertical timbers that make up the frame of the house are placed in holes that are later filled with stones or dirt. It is believed that the Badin-Roque House is the only remaining building of its type in Louisiana and one of only a handful in the country.
“This is a real hands on project where the students get involved in doing things such as making mud,” said Florence Brown, a graduate student from Leesburg, Fla. “This is also a chance for us to put into practice what we have been learning in class.”
Students in the program learn about research, documentation, preservation methods and ethics. Programs like this allow them to put that knowledge into practice.
“We get to learn how to put together projects and work with the public,” said graduate student Curtis Desselles of Marksville. “We want people to understand how to protect the heritage resources around them. For example, if they come across an arrowhead, don’t keep it but contact a professional.”
The heritage education program will include two other schools this fall.
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