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Pocono News Section
Taylor Students Spruce Up Cemetery
Taylor Students Spruce Up Cemetery - Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 04:02AM EST
Reported by: Eric Deabill
Tuesday May 25 2010
TAYLOR, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - Dozens of students from an elementary school in Lackawanna County took their lesson out of the classroom Tuesday. Kids in Taylor spruced up their borough's cemetery while learning history at the same time.
With a little bit of digging and a lot of heart, students from Riverside Elementary West spruced up gravestones at the Taylor Memorial Cemetery Tuesday. Besides making the place look better for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, the kids also learned about the history of their hometown.
4th grader Lea DeStefano said, I think its pretty awesome because I love social studies and its just pretty awesome seeing how long they lived."
Some of Taylor Borough's earliest settlers, dating back to 1834, are buried here. The kids were excited to hear their stories. MacKenzie Mickavicz said, We did learn a lot about the people We learned the first settlers in Taylor and how they survived on food."
Jason Holman added, Its better than just learning in the classroom because you get to see more and learn more because you get to read the stones.
This cemetery clean-up is a yearly tradition for 4th grade students. It was started by teacher Shawn Murphy. I think the importance is the students take ownership of the cemetery thats in their hometown and that they also learn respect for it," said Murphy.
Many of the kids admit they never knew there was so much to learn from a graveyard. Charles Ponas said, I've never been in here before but I have passed by a million times to get gas for my grandma."
But now as they plant flowers to honor the dead, it seems the seeds of curiosity are also planted in the kid's heads.
Nearly 70 students took part in Tuesday's Taylor History Day. All of the flowers planted were bought by the school's student council. Local businesses donated lunch for the kids. | | |
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