Welch, Smith honored with Heritage Award
Published on June 1st, 2005
The Stoneham Historical Commission named its Heritage Award winner for this year were Colonial Park third grade teacher Nancy Smith and South School third grade teacher Maureen Welch - a pair of longtime teachers that took so much pride in Stoneham that they took it upon themselves to create a lesson plan on the history of the "Shoe Town."
"I wanted to thank the Board for giving us this opportunity," said Stoneham Historical Commission Chairman Stephen Rotondi, of the award established in 1992 for contributions made by business or person for preservation and awareness for the historical legacy of Stoneham. "For many years, the Stoneham Historical Society has invited classrooms to visit their museum to have an effective and enjoyable way in fostering pride in Stoneham's Historical legacy."
In recent years, the lack of tour guides and volunteers had curbed the Historical Society's ability to make the educational presentations to classes, and a pair of teachers took it upon themselves to change that.
According to Rotondi, Welch and Smith approached the Historical Society and took time during last summer and fall to incorporate a third grade lesson on Stoneham history called "The Tools of History."
"It travels from school to school and teaches children about some of the more key aspects to the history of Stoneham," said Rotondi, who presented the awards to the teachers and also displayed the plaque that will immortalize their names at the Stoneham Public Library.
The kit contained a lesson plan, a book on the history of Stoneham and an assortment of hands-on artifacts - and with grants from both the SBCEF and StonehamBank the teaching unit became a reality.
"This was a pleasure and it was very much in our heart to do this because we saw how much the kids enjoyed going to the Historical Society," said Smith. "The kids love the kit."
Longtime Stoneham resident Welch added that her class "still remembered much from their kits and their visit to the Historical Society months before."
"They have learned a lot about their town, and we really enjoyed putting the kit together," said Welch.
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