7th Graders Dive Into Texas History at the Bob Bullock Museum

The St. Stephen’s 7th grade class recently embarked on a journey down history lane to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in downtown Austin, ready with notebooks, pencils, excitement and curiosity.

 

The museum field trip, introduced for the first time this year, was proposed by Middle School History Instructor Drew Smith. He is in his second year on The Hill, and says the idea came to him last school year while he was on the 7th grade retreat in South Texas. The inspiration was sparked when the group made their annual stop at Goliad State Park and Historic Site treading on the same land where Native Americans, Spanish explorers and missionaries, Texian soldiers and early settlers once stood. It was then that Smith realized his students needed more context, prior to the visit, about what was happening during that period of time in our state’s history.

 

“[The students] weren't really prepped for it,” said Smith. “All of sudden they’re at Goliad and have zero foundation to go on.”

 

This year, Smith wanted his students to have more knowledge and understanding of Texas history before the retreat. He made one phone call to the Bullock museum and the plan was in motion to do a history pop-up class at the museum where students had a chance to engage with interactive exhibits, hands-on demos and life size artifacts.

 

His history students are raving about the experience. Kiki Sharma ’30 says her eyes were immediately drawn to a giant hull of the “La Belle” ship that is displayed in the middle of the museum. The expedition ship was wrecked in a storm in 1686 and sank to the bottom of Matagorda Bay where it rested undisturbed for more than 300 years.

 

Alida Hudson ’30 says her favorite part was getting to try her hand at using an actual antique bow and arrow. She and her classmates were able to pull back the bowstring and feel the strength it took for early settlers who used the weapon for hunting animals to eat.

 

For Jacinta Reid ’30, who just moved to the Lonestar state from New York, the field trip was a welcomed crash course in learning about the place she now calls home.

 

“I thought it was really cool learning about Texas history with my friends, and I loved all the artifacts,” said Reid.

 

Each student was tasked with taking detailed notes about the exhibits, and answering essential questions such as “How do we know history?” and “What fields of history and science are used to understand the past?” and “Why are museums important?”

 

While the trip was Smith’s idea, he says it was never meant to be “just a 7th grade history trip.” One of his universal teaching goals is always striving to create lessons that overlap into all subject areas. He and other students saw this approach in action at the museum as 7th grade Science Instructor Stacey Wink, Ceramics Instructor Britt Thorp and Art Instructor Michelle Avery actively engaged with students while standing in front of important artifacts that shape the Texas story. 

 

“Science and history should be super connected, as we learn history through scientific research, through observation,” said Smith. “I literally walk to my colleagues' classrooms and say, ‘What can we do? How can we connect history and English? How can we connect history and science? How can we connect with art?”

 

Smith says a final goal of the trip was to open students’ minds to the multitude of careers tied to museums. He believes they left with a better understanding of the importance and roles of anthropologists, archeologists, chemists, engineers, museum curators and more.

 

The next step is using the experience as a jumping off point for classroom projects and discussions around the idea of perspective—getting students to start thinking about how history is told and through whose perspective.

 

“It's most important for kids to learn how to study history, right?” said Smith. “Let’s go to all museums, but let’s be smart about whose perspective is being told and who is included and whose perspective is left out.”