The Cemetery Stories field trip helps students discover what cemeteries can tell them about the Geneva community and the people who have shaped it. They will examine cemetery art and find out what it reveals about the people of the past. They will use critical thinking skills to discover how some of Geneva’s early residents lived, died, and remembered one another. Offered in October at Washington Street Cemetery. The Wyckoff Family Foundation supports the attendance of Geneva City School District classes.
Students learn why communities have cemeteries, how they are places to remember loved ones, and what they can tell us about our community’s past. Second-grade classes focus on the basic information found on gravestones, including names, dates, and symbols, and what a cemetery plot is. Students learn about Washington Street Cemetery’s history and how it reflects the values of some of Geneva’s early residents. Weather permitting, students break into small groups to make gravestone rubbings. We recommend bringing 2-3 additional adults to help supervise the groups for gravestone rubbings.
For information to help you prepare for your field trip, see the links under Supplemental Materials. For historic images of Washington Street Cemetery that you can use in your classroom and an optional previsit lesson, visit this Google Drive folder.
