Lessons in Granddad's Memorbilia

It's always good when you can gain two or more positive things from action. A member of my family recently lost her mother and in going through her mother's papers and boxes of momentos, she came across a collection of memorabilia from the childhood, school and college career of her brother. There were football letters that had never been sewn on the atheletic jacket, National Honor Society Certificates, newspaper clippings, party invitations, even his birth announcement; as well as newspaper articles on world events.

Not one to throw anything out, but always ready to pass the caretaking responsibility of items she can't throw away on to someone else, she came up with a "good use" for the items. In other words, she recycled them while unloading them. More important, however, she turned them into a free educational resource.

Her tactic was very simple. She first invited her brother's grandchildren to her home, spread the memorbilia out on the a along with craft tools and art supplies. In one afternoon they had turned the stuff she couldn't throw away into a scrapbook for their grandfather, just in time for his birthday.

While this was an efficient solution to relocating the stuff and a good art project for the kids, it was even more valuable as a lesson in U. S. and world history, geography and the progress of technology in our society. For example, the newspaper article's, one for November 23, 1963 declaring the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, gave rise to discussions about the location of Texas, Washington D. C. and Russia, the history of the our relationship with Russia and the Cold War, and how the world communicated before computers, Internet, and cell phones.

Copyright 2009 Creekside Education & Susie Williams


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