Digging into history: Nederland’s eighth graders history / ELA projects took them in and around Nederland for research. [/caption]

The Nederland Middle-Senior High School eighth grade class just completed an English Language Arts and Social Studies collaborative project that featured oral histories and museum exhibits about Local Legends and Landmarks from the Nederland region.

With support from the Nederland Area Historical Society, students researched over 20 legendary people and places from the past. At the event held on April 24, there was a large turnout with over 40 parents and community members in attendance, along with student guests.

Naima Billings and Rory McLaughlin opened the event with a welcome speech, sharing what this project means to our town. One row of the audience were senior citizens from the area, whose intergenerational stories brought student projects to life!

The library had 20 exhibits built by students that included maps, artifacts, samples, stories, and photographs and many eighth grade students dressed in costume to recreate the time period of their historical exhibit.

Isaac Levy and Tad Collins were dressed as miners and shared the story of the Wolf Tongue Mine. Mack Abel and Xander Eldridge built an exhibit about the Caribou Cemetery, and even shared the spooky side of the story in ghost attire!

Evelyne Stanton’s Nederland Cemetery exhibit featured Nathan Brown’s grave, and Olive Diaz was the expert on Brown, Ned’s first non-indigenous inhabitant.

Students Quinn Walthrop and Rocco Steuck set up a full outdoor tent packed with real artifacts from the Switzerland Trail of America. They created a map to illustrate its journey up from Boulder and described snow and flower gathering adventures of the 1900s.

Lucy Budde and Molly Shipman were dressed like opera singers as they shared the history and dramatic Ballad of Baby Doe of the Central City Opera House.

Local snowboarder Logan Hanley shared stories of Goldie Griffith, who definitely challenged the social norms of her time.

Learning local history: Eighth graders at NMSHS learned about the area’s history in mining, music, skiing, and so much more.[/caption]

Penny Bodnar created an incredible 3D exhibit of a train heading over Rollins Pass, and Kyle King’s model of Moffat Tunnel caught the attention of many guests.

Honor Kier became an expert on the engineering feat of Barker Reservoir, and shared how hard it was for Hannah Barker to hand over her land.

Sophia Beauvineau captured the mining and social history of Eldora Mountain Town with a rustic collection of images, while Annabelle Alper, dressed in full ski gear, focused on Eldora Ski Resort’s history.

Jackson Watts shared the story of Jeff Guercio with an exhibit packed with guitars and album covers. Rory McLaughlin and Brook Pattridge shared tales from the Caribou Recording Studio in Michael Jackson attire!

Cody Waldron’s personal connections to her neighborhood of Lincoln Hills was telling, surprising many guests who had no idea Duke Ellington performed in Gilpin County.

Johnny Moss shared landscapes, history, and mountain peaks of the Continental Divide in full climbing gear, while Cassin Rosenblum’s personally gathered natural resource collection from James Peak Wilderness wowed visitors.

Artan Moran and Julian Ralph had the opportunity to interview Serah Hendricks to capture the stories of the late local legend Tom Hendricks. They also interviewed Tom Hendricks’ friend Riley McAllister, who shared a tale of Tom saving a trapped coyote (a half a mile in the mine!) by tossing a fire blanket and dragging it out of the mine.

Both Moran and Ralph wore hard hats and created a display, with pictures of Tom cutting pizza with a machete. The students even extracted some ore from The Cross Mine.

Community members interacted with students and shared stories of the past, such as the legendary Caribou Room and Stevie Wonder’s famous jeep ride around the ranch.

The Nederland 150th Anniversary was announced to all in attendance, and we hope to feature student work from the Local Legends and Landmarks project in the celebration this summer!