The field trip to Evergreen Cemetery included a tour of the whole cemetery, information about the history of the cemetery, and who gave the land so that it could be created. General Palmer was responsible for giving the land for the cemetery and Prospect Lake, solely created as a reservoir to water the grass and trees planted at the cemetery.
The fourth grade class also toured the chapel, both upstairs in the sanctuary and downstairs where the caskets were kept in storage; during cold weather, the ground was frozen and too hard to dig into until spring time. The tour guide, Dianne Hartshorn of the Historical Society, showed the students where Stratton and General Palmer (wife, daughter, and in-law) were buried and talked about their historical significance.
The field trip to Evergreen Cemetery included a tour of the whole cemetery, information about the history of the cemetery, and who gave the land so that it could be created. General Palmer was responsible for giving the land for the cemetery and Prospect Lake, solely created as a reservoir to water the grass and trees planted at the cemetery.
The fourth grade class also toured the chapel, both upstairs in the sanctuary and downstairs where the caskets were kept in storage; during cold weather, the ground was frozen and too hard to dig into until spring time. The tour guide, Dianne Hartshorn of the Historical Society, showed the students where Stratton and General Palmer (wife, daughter, and in-law) were buried and talked about their historical significance.
The students learned about the different minerals used for grave stones, what acid rain does to certain materials, and what goes into regular burials with embalming, cremation, and as well as, green burials which are the latest thing. Ms. Studebaker, fourth grade teacher, brought along her grave stone symbols book for the students to learn about and the guide even let the students do some rubbings in a section of the cemetery where the headstones are newer to avoid damage to the older stones.
Overall, the students had a great day of learning that and one student remarked, “Ms. Studebaker, this was the best field trip I ever went on!!”