Throughout the fall, the Vineyard Preservation Trust has been inviting third and fourth grade students to travel back in time with them as part of a newly expanded creative writing initiative.
The program is called Island Inspiration Education Initiative, and is designed to challenge students to imagine and write about what it would be like to live on the Vineyard during the colonial era.
“When we bring [the students] into our buildings, we want to also open up their eyes to what we do as preservationists,” said Julie Hatt, the event and development manager at the Vineyard Preservation Trust. “We’re trying to spark interest in history.”
On Thursday, students from the Edgartown School were led on a tour of the Vincent House by Norah Van Riper, a historian who was dressed in clothing reminiscent of the period.
“When they go into the Vincent House, they get to experience what it might be like to be in 1776 and consider how their lives today are the same as and different from the ways children’s lives were in 1776,” Ms. Van Riper said.
The Vineyard Preservation Trust owns and maintains numerous historic buildings across the Island, including the Vincent House, Grange Hall, Union Chapel, Old Whaling Church, Alley’s General Store and many more.
“We call them living landmarks for a reason,” said Laura Pla, the educator and curatorial projects coordinator at the organization. “We want the public, whether it’s a Vineyarder, a visitor or tourist, we want people to engage with our buildings, learn about them, learn about the history that happened in them, the stories that happened in them.”
The program has been ongoing but in previous years it had been only a one-day writing project. This year, it has been expanded into a year-long experience where the students work alongside their teachers to develop stories considering what a day in the life of a child living on Martha’s Vineyard in the 18th century might look like.
In the spring, the stories will be entered into an Islandwide writing competition. Students will be recognized for their creativity, historical understanding and growth over the course of the school year.
“We’re going to see how they progress throughout the year,” said Ms. Hatt.
For their participation, every student will receive one free pass to the Flying Horses Carousel, which the Vineyard Preservation Trust also owns and maintains. The winner of the competition will get a free season pass.
Ms. Hatt is hopeful that this initiative will continue to grow and is looking to implement a similar program in the high school in the coming years. Her five-year plan is to have the Vineyard Preservation Trust award scholarships to graduating seniors during class night.
“We want the building to stay for generations to come so that more stories can happen and their kids and their kids’ kids can enjoy it just like we are,” said Ms. Hatt.