By Claire Newfeld
The 10th Grade Humane Letters curriculum is notoriously known as the year students study American History and American Literature. However, most people are not aware that this year also includes a unit on Arizona history. Mr. Schuster, familiar in his role as the school writing tutor, also teaches this unit to all three Humane Letters classes during the second semester. This year, the faculty decided to add a field trip to enhance the unit. On January 8, the sophomores boarded a bus to the Pueblo Grande Museum. This ongoing archeological site provided insight into the ancient world of the Hohokam Indians, who lived in the region thousands of years ago. The museum features ruins of an ancient Hohokam civilization, which was abandoned abruptly for unknown reasons. In addition, the museum also featured replicas of adobe houses, pottery, and gardens similar to those of the Hohokam. The students were able to learn about the fascinatingly efficient and resourceful Hohokam society and its influence in the modern world.
After Pueblo Grande, the students moved on to the former Arizona Capitol Building. Legislators used to meet there, but moved into two different buildings due to an increase in population. Now, the Capitol serves as a museum for students to visit and learn about Arizona in its territorial stage and early statehood. The students learned about Arizona’s initial struggles for statehood, the framing of the Arizona Constitution, the territorial and early state governors, and early Arizonan society. The class was even able to sit at the tables where the original Arizona legislature wrote the state constitution. With no central air conditioning unit and windows that could only be opened slightly so as not to let birds in, the building allowed students to fully experience how difficult it would have been for early representatives to come up with a constitution. After touring the Capitol museum, the students were escorted to the modern-day House of Representatives building. While the legislature was not in session at the time, students were able to learn the structure of our state government, how a bill becomes a law, and how the House runs a session.
The two museums provided a great basis for the Arizona history unit, and now students have basic knowledge that they can apply to all that they will learn in the coming weeks. Hopefully the field trip will remain part of the curriculum for the upcoming years so that future tenth graders can also experience the excitement of Arizona history first-hand.
