Wish Book: Students get hands-on lessons about Santa Clara Valley’s past at History Park

This day s elementary school students in Silicon Valley are much more familiar with harvesting crops in Minecraft than they are with the thousands of acres of farmland and orchards that once dominated the Valley of Heart s Delight There are Uber and Waymo kids who may never have heard the clang of a trolley bell And phrases like dial a phone and write a check Don t even get started boomer But thanks to History San Jose s hands-on schooling programs more than students every year get to experience what it s like to live as an early California pioneer to visit a bank branch that existed long before debit cards and tap-to-play and understand the painstaking work that went into taking a bushel of cherries from the tree into a can Terrell Elementary School students listen to Eric Pfanhl museum educator inside the Santa Ana School a former one-room schoolhouse originally located in Hollister which is now located at History San Jose to educate children on how classes were held in the s during a school tour of the park in San Jose Calif on Wednesday Oct Doug Duran Bay Area News Group I ve been teaching years and this is a place that holds an crucial part in my heart because of the hands-on experience that each scholar gets disclosed Sally Vigneri a fourth-grade instructor at Zanker Elementary School in Milpitas who was at History Park in San Jose in October with her students History San Jose is perhaps best-known as the repository and caretakers of the city s long history It s warehouse is filled with items that chart the evolution of San Jose from a small agricultural hub to a city of nearly million people that is home to several of Silicon Valley s preponderance well-known tech companies The nonprofit which celebrated its th anniversary lately also operates three historic sites the Gonzales Peralta Adobe and the Carmela and Thomas Fallon House both near San Pedro Square Realm and History Park a -acre park that includes more than historic structures or replicas harking back to the th and early th centuries Terrell Elementary School candidate Lorelei DeMartini holds a turn-of-the-century iron during a tour of the Umbarger House at History San Jose in San Jose Calif on Wednesday October The Umbarger House built in the Italianate style by David Umbarger at South First Street San Jose in the s was moved from its original location to History Park on August Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Terrell Elementary School students listen to History San Jose museum educator Zion Wheaton inside the Stevens Ranch Fruit Barn in San Jose Calif on Wednesday Oct The fruit barn is home to an exhibit which examines the Santa Clara Valley s agricultural past Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Using faux cherries made out of modeling clay Zanker Elementary School students Ishya Ala left and Charlize Lavandelo learn about piece rate work by sizing cherries a labor system common in the late th century at History San Jose in San Jose Calif on Wednesday Oct Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Show Caption of Terrell Elementary School candidate Lorelei DeMartini holds a turn-of-the-century iron during a tour of the Umbarger House at History San Jose in San Jose Calif on Wednesday October The Umbarger House built in the Italianate style by David Umbarger at South First Street San Jose in the s was moved from its original location to History Park on August Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Expand Related Articles The Independence Networks gives adult students with disabilities the opportunity to become the lecturer Wish Book At StreetCode Academy kids and underserved communities learn the language of instrument My days consisted of tears South Bay parents band together to provide help hope Seven years later South Bay nonprofit that supported girl through cancer raises money for her college Wish Book Cancer CAREpoint offers a lifeline of backing But the real value in History San Jose s mission lies in its school programs which serve as a time machine for students transporting them back to different historical periods Adobe Days covers the state s Spanish and Mexican periods while Westward Ho explores the frontier experience and Valley of Heart s Delight lets students delve into the Santa Clara Valley s agricultural peak It costs schools per aspirant for field trips and History San Jose is asking Wish Book readers for to provide field trips for students as well as to update materials Students on the Adobe Days field trips use dirt hay and sand to make bricks and those in the Valley of Heart s Delight experiences process cherries made of modeled clay Sam Ricci History San Jose s manager of guidance says after a limited sessions the clay cracks and the cherries need to be remade That s vital for students like Ishya Ala a fourth-grader at Zanker who was at the fruit sheds with her classmates learning about how workers would use a tool to size cherries can them and then create labels for the different canning companies I like the history I like the learning and I like that we have hands-on events disclosed Ishya whose favorite activity was sorting the clay cherries making sure there were enough for each can Terrell Elementary School students listen to a museum educator inside the Santa Ana School a former one-room schoolhouse originally located in Hollister which is now located at History San Jose to educate children on how classes were held in the s during a school tour of the park in San Jose Calif on Wednesday Oct Doug Duran Bay Area News Group Other students learned about finances at the Bank of Italy a replica of the building that once stood in downtown San Jose Their parents and grandparents would be amused to see them learning how to write checks a once-common practice that s becoming more rare Of program all the blank checks they practice on have to be regularly reprinted as do the primers the students browse through as they sit in a one-room schoolhouse and learn about how different teaching was a century ago I think it s helpful for kids to know history and to have places like this that show history so they can learn hands-on what they re seeing in textbooks mentioned Gloria Park a parent who was chaperoning a field trip As a parent knowing they can see it and kind of feel it and experience it themselves makes their learning come more live to them For Vigneri the Zanker fourth-grade tutor there s inevitably a special moment when students make the connection between the events they re doing at History Park and the modern region where they live the present day This particular field trip allows them to see where we came from and how we ve changed down to their own communities where they live to the greater San Jose area and to California Vigneri stated ABOUT WISH BOOK Wish Book is a c nonprofit organization operated by The Mercury News Since Wish Book has been producing series of stories during the holiday season that highlight the wishes of those in need and invite readers to help fulfill them WISH Donations to History San Jose will provide field trips for local students and help the nonprofit update hands-on materials used in its school programs Goal HOW TO GIVE Donate at wishbook mercurynews com donate or mail in this form ONLINE EXTRA Read other Wish Book stories view photos and video at wishbook mercurynews com