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Fourth grade teacher Jan McManus of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is an avid sailor who loves lighthouses. This passion appears to have rubbed off on her students, who completed an eight-week lighthouse project with a “Light Night” in their school cafeteria. During the course of the project each student created a model of a lighthouse of their choosing. They also researched their lighthouses on the internet and created reports on the history of each one.
As Jan McManus points out, the project combined many disciplines: science, art, reading, writing, math, research, cooperative learning, social science, and even music. Dondero School music teacher Diane McGee composed an original song, “The Lighthouse,” which the children performed at the “Light Night” event.
Art teacher Sarah Harrod worked with the students on their sculptures. Starting with paper towel, toilet paper tubes, and cardboard boxes, the students used papier-maché and paint to finish the models, which also have working lights.
Jessica Giles, who picked Maine’s Bass Harbor Head Light, said she wasn’t happy with the roof on her model at first, but then when “a teacher walked by and knew it was Bass Harbor,” she felt happy about her creation.
Danny Oot created a replica of Eastern Point Light in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He said he “would definitely do it again if I could. I like Eastern Point Light. it wasn’t too easy; it wasn’t too hard.”
Kaleigh Welch picked a hard one — Maine’s Matinicus Rock, which has two lighthouse towers. She said, “I would definitely do this project again, but would pick one I could visit.” Matinicus Rock is far offshore and difficult to reach.
More than 150 people came to the school for “Light Night” on March 29. For this event, the children made invitations and a program, and planned for the refreshments in the cafeteria. Each child gave a report on their lighthouse. The lights were turned off in the cafeteria, and the class counted down to a dramatic lighting of their miniature lighthouses.
Most of the children say they will display their models in their bedrooms. Ali Donnermayer said she will use her replica of Peggy’s Cove Light as a night light. Ashley Stewart said her model of Cape Hatteras Light will go in the family room, since her whole family loves lighthouses. Patrick Murphy will send his model of Boston Light to his grandfather in California.
When asked why we should work to preserve lighthouses, the students offer a number of enthusiastic responses: “They should stay up. It’s a way of life,” “They should help them because they’re historical sites, and they look really good,” “They’re like a big chunk of history. You can learn so much from them,” and “They look much better than a pole with a little light.” Obviously the students of the Dondero School are well on their way to being the lighthouse keepers of tomorrow. Says Jan McManus, “They became teachers during this project. I learned a lot.”
This story appeared in the July 2001 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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