The 4th grade classes, led by faculty members Sherree Hoover and Eric Tardif, visited the New Jersey Statehouse and the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton on April 17 to dig deeper into their study of New Jersey’s rich history dating back to colonial times and to get a better understanding of how our state government works.
The students toured the Statehouse and visited the General Assembly and Senate Chambers. In the adjacent State House Annex building, the students participated in the “Make a Law” program, where they assumed the role of lawmakers and simulated an Assembly debate about a bill that would ban the use of metal bats in youth baseball and softball league games. After lunch, the students went back in time to the days of the Revolutionary War and visited the Old Barracks Museum. The students were sworn in as soldiers in the Continental Army and experienced a snapshot of a soldier’s life, including lining up for roll call, trying on Army uniforms, and hearing a colonial nurse explain what they would have experienced if they were inoculated for smallpox. The students also learned about the games that children played in colonial times and had fun outdoors trying out the rolling hoop and stick game.
