ALBANY - Visitors couldn't help feeling a bit nostalgic walking through the Albany Middle School on Thursday, April 3, during the annual Albany Middle School open house.
This year's theme and school project was titled "Decades." The project was largely a team building exercise that allowed students in fifth through eighth grade to work on projects together in small teams. The students spent weeks researching and documenting their assigned decade. They were to study everything from scientific discoveries and products of that time to famous people and entertainment.
Walking down the hallway visitors were transported to 1920 during the time of gangsters and speakeasies. Student Liz Schroeder showed the guests candy that was common at that time. Gummi Bears, Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars have all stood the test of time and are still popular today.
The 1930's brought the Great Depression. Food rationing and 20 cent per gallon gas was a reality.
The 1940's ushered in the atomic age with the atomic bomb being tested in New Mexico. This was not the only item being introduced, the slinky, first digital computer and the microwave were all 1940's inventions.
Letter sweaters, saddle shoes and poodle skirts are all fashion icons of the 1950's. These items could all be seen in the 50's display. The Drifters, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and BB King were all favorite selections for the cats (cool kids) on the jukebox. Ray Croc opened the first McDonalds in Des Plaines, Illinois in 1955.
The students learned that the 1960's began the Women's Liberation movement and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Civil Rights movement made many changes throughout the country until his assassination in 1968.
Moving into the next decade, the 1970's marked an energy crisis in many countries. Gasoline was being rationed by 1973. Modern computers were becoming available and men and women were wearing afros and bell bottoms.
Leg warmers and parachute pants abound in the 1980's. Parents remembered the day that the Challenger exploded. Each could remember it vividly.
Stepping back into the hallway, Disney's Toy Story could be heard playing in the 1990's.
As historian, Sidney E. Mead once said, "History, in brief, is an analysis of the past in order that we may understand the present and guide our conduct into the future." These middle school students are learning to gain that understanding.
This year's theme and school project was titled "Decades." The project was largely a team building exercise that allowed students in fifth through eighth grade to work on projects together in small teams. The students spent weeks researching and documenting their assigned decade. They were to study everything from scientific discoveries and products of that time to famous people and entertainment.
Walking down the hallway visitors were transported to 1920 during the time of gangsters and speakeasies. Student Liz Schroeder showed the guests candy that was common at that time. Gummi Bears, Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars have all stood the test of time and are still popular today.
The 1930's brought the Great Depression. Food rationing and 20 cent per gallon gas was a reality.
The 1940's ushered in the atomic age with the atomic bomb being tested in New Mexico. This was not the only item being introduced, the slinky, first digital computer and the microwave were all 1940's inventions.
Letter sweaters, saddle shoes and poodle skirts are all fashion icons of the 1950's. These items could all be seen in the 50's display. The Drifters, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and BB King were all favorite selections for the cats (cool kids) on the jukebox. Ray Croc opened the first McDonalds in Des Plaines, Illinois in 1955.
The students learned that the 1960's began the Women's Liberation movement and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Civil Rights movement made many changes throughout the country until his assassination in 1968.
Moving into the next decade, the 1970's marked an energy crisis in many countries. Gasoline was being rationed by 1973. Modern computers were becoming available and men and women were wearing afros and bell bottoms.
Leg warmers and parachute pants abound in the 1980's. Parents remembered the day that the Challenger exploded. Each could remember it vividly.
Stepping back into the hallway, Disney's Toy Story could be heard playing in the 1990's.
As historian, Sidney E. Mead once said, "History, in brief, is an analysis of the past in order that we may understand the present and guide our conduct into the future." These middle school students are learning to gain that understanding.
