Two students at Greenbrier High School’s Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) Lab hope to start preserving the history of the town with help from local residents.
Sophomores Heather Bound and Alexis McCalman are working on a history of Greenbrier project that will feature a video scrapbook, according to EAST Lab facilitator Kim Austin. They hope to gather photos of historical landmarks. Students will scan and return the photos that residents wish to share and incorporate the images into the video scrapbook. Photos with people in them are acceptable, as long as the full landmark is pictured, Austin said.
“I think the kids need to start preserving the history of Greenbrier, especially with the growth. I think we’re losing a lot of old structures, old memories,” she said. “From growing up here, looking back, I now realize how important it is to preserve those old memories.”
When the Wooster Elementary School opened last year, EAST Lab students made a video scrapbook using photos collected at the school’s open house, Austin said. Wooster Elementary students interviewed alumni of the historic Wooster school at the open house, and EAST students collected the footage and made a DVD, she said.
“That’s what sparked our interest of doing a similar project for Greenbrier,” she added.
Over several years, a number of students have worked on various projects compiling different parts of the history of Greenbrier, Austin said. One group created a mural, which is a timeline at the community center. Others have interviewed residents and researched the mayors of the town. Another project resulted in a quick-fact reference book that was distributed to the elementary schools for student research.
“This has been a work in progress for a while. I’ve had several students who can claim part ownership in it through the EAST Lab,” Austin said.
Bonds said of the project, “We just wanted to make sure the history of Greenbrier was preserved and people still remembered what our town used to be like.”
McCalman added, “And to show all the progress and how much our schools are good, and the community, from what it was back then.”
Bonds said, “We’re really wanting to make a video scrapbook with pictures of old Greenbrier. We’ll have someone who’ll talk and explain about the pictures. It will basically just be an informational video that helps us remember. We’ll probably do a side video of citizens that lived in old Greenbrier and things they remember from that time.”
To donate photos for the EAST Lab to borrow, scan and return, contact Austin at 501-679-4236.
