Jane Schmidt

Schmidt's "Orphan Train: Special Deliveries to Our Community" project focuses on the community's connection to the Orphan Train history of the early 1900s when children were sent on trains from the East to farm families in the Midwest. Although the train traveled through Maquoketa, students often are unaware of the impact this had on the community. Therefore, the students read Joan Lowry Nixon's "Orphan Train" books and research the Orphan Train history as it directly affected the community. Additionally, students interview community residents with direct knowledge of this time period. Students then create QuickTime movies and CDs for the local museum and for the families that participated in the interviews. This project not only allows students to learn about the history of their own community while exercising their reading, research, interview and compilation skills, but they also contribute to the record of this historical time period.