Through this spring’s learning expeditions, second grade students at the West Bath School have been seeking answers to the guiding questions: Who contributes to a community? How can we?

To research that question and build background knowledge on the topic, students have completed extensive fieldwork at various agencies throughout the greater Bath community such as West Bath Recycling Center, Sagadahoc County Sheriff ’s Department, Patten Free Library, West Bath Fire Department and Mid Coast Hospital.

Recently, students worked with the West Bath Historical Society to learn about the history of the town of West Bath. With the support and guidance of West Bath Historical Society President Avery Meyers, students toured the recently renovated West Bath Meeting House and the Littlefield School House. The Littlefield School is one of Maine’s few remaining one-room schoolhouses and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

At the schoolhouse, students were greeted by docents dressed in period costumes. In addition to teaching the students about important historical people and events in West Bath, the docents had the students roleplay and practice skills that were commonplace for students during a school day in the 1850s. Students also had the opportunity to visit the cemetery at the location of the first church in West Bath in order to discover and identify the names of some of the founding fathers of the community.

Second grade teacher Lori Sawyer explained the rationale for the visit: “In order for our students to really understand what makes up our community, they need to discover and understand the past.”

As a culmination, students have created and published a book in order to share the answers to their guiding questions with others. Students have also identified, designed and participated in a community service project to enable them to be contributors to our West Bath community.