Historical society launches unique living history experience

Students from area schools are now able to experience a school day straight out of the past.

Thanks to the restoration of the village's original one-room 1896 schoolhouse, Central School, the Mount Prospect Historical Society is pleased to announce a new phase in its programming.

"After months of planning, we are thrilled to be launching this program," said Deb Rittle, Schoolhouse Project coordinator. "We envision this program helping future generations to learn and cherish the history of our community.

"Not many original one-room schoolhouses still exist in our state, or even in our country for that matter, so Central School will offer a valuable and unique educational experience for students and teachers in our community and beyond."

Under the direction of a schoolmarm or schoolmaster, students will experience what learning was like in a one-room, multi-age classroom straight out of the past. The experience includes reading, writing and arithmetic lessons as they were taught to school-aged children of the past in Mount Prospect.

A recess break, during which students play back-to-basics games of a by-gone era, is even included.

Set in 1896, the two-hour experience is aligned with Common Core State Standards and is rich in local history.

During this interactive field trip, modern students take on the roles of students from Mount Prospect's past as they recite the ABCs of Central School, read from McGuffey's First Eclectic Readers, practice their handwriting on slates and participate in a spelling bee.

The experience is offered as both a morning and an afternoon session Tuesday through Thursday. Teachers or home school coordinators may make reservations for the experience through the society's website at www.mtphist.org/centralschool or by calling (847) 392-9006.

The Mount Prospect Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is committed to preserving the history of Mount Prospect, through artifacts, photographs and both oral and written memories of current and former residents and businesspeople.

On its campus, in the heart of the village, the society maintains the 1906 Dietrich Friedrichs house museum, carriage house, the ADA-accessible Dolores Haugh Education Center and the 1896 one-room Central School, which was moved to the museum campus in 2008.

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