MAKE VISITS TO
ST. AUGUSTINE, ATLANTA

By SUZANNE M. SCHMIDT

Students at Paideia School of Tampa Bay were treated to some hands-on learning about history in mid-October.
Even though the school, 7834 N. 56th Street, just opened for for children in kindergarten through 11th grade in August, the fifth- and sixth-grade classes had the chance to learn about history up close and personal through field trips to St. Augustine and Atlanta.
Patsy Hinton, the school’s dean of academics, said it was her idea for the children to go on the trips. The fifth-graders went to St. Augustine and the sixth-graders went to Atlanta.
“Part of it comes from my own background in Europe,” Hinton said. “You can read about things in a book, but when you see them in front of you, it makes it really come to life. You get a better understanding of history; it is so much more in depth.”
The fifth-graders visited Fort San Marcos and took the trolley tour of the city in St. Augustine.
“I learned how forts were built and what they were built with,” said fifth-grader English Hinton. “I learned how the people in the fort had to keep the people from the sea out with their cannons.”
During a trolley tour, the students learned about the battle between the Spanish and the English.
“I liked learning on the trolley tour,” English said. “I also liked learning about the fountain of youth. It wasn’t made up of water like we drink; it was made of sulfur water.”
“I learned that conquistadors used to navigate using the constellations,” said A.J. Stewart, a fifth-grader. “We learned about Ponce de Leon and Menendez. Ponce de Leon discovered the fountain of youth and Menendez established St. Augustine. I also learned Florida was named by Ponce de Leon and Florida means feast of flowers.”
A.J. said it made a big difference going from reading about the two famous conquistadors and actually seeing the places he read about in person.
“It helped me to understand better when I got to see what everything looks like,” A.J. said. “On the trolley tour, we learned a lot about what happened in St. Augustine.”
The sixth-graders are learning about the Civil War, so going to Atlanta they visited Civil War sites including the Atlanta History Museum, Cyclorama, Andersonville Prison and the Agrirama.
Sixth-grader Nolan Foxworth said he really enjoyed the trip.
“The best part was seeing how the war was fought, not just with guns and cannons,” Nolan said. “Sometimes it was brother against brother. I learned more than if I had just read it in a book. It was more than just a battle; there were political problems and issues with slavery and tariffs. I liked all the museums.”
“In the Agrirama, it was like going back in time,” said Alissa Allen, a sixth-grader. “We got to see how life was back then. We saw how hard it was. We also saw a prison that held about 40,000 Union soldiers. You can see where people were trying to dig out.”
Alissa said she learned better from seeing the places rather than just reading about it in books.
“It is different than reading,” Allen said. “It is one thing to read it, then another to actually see where the people had actually walked. You could see the trenches and the different places.”
She was also impressed with the Cyclorama where there was a huge recreation of the Battle of Atlanta.
“There was a four-story-high painting with real figures made out of clay,” Alissa said. “It was amazing.”
In addition to the hands-on learning from the field trips, the school is also trying other different approaches to teaching.
“Learning just doesn’t happen one way,” Hinton said. “We look at the way a student learns at different stages and try to help them learn as much as we can.”
The school opened with 56 students. The children are learning Latin, Greek and are taking a variety of Bible doctrine classes in addition to the regular subjects of math, history, English and more.
“People are amazed by the work our students are doing,” Hinton said. “They think our students must be above average, but it is just in the way we are teaching them.”
Even though the school is hoping to grow with each passing year, the class size should stay the same.
“Compared to other schools, we have very small class sizes,” Hinton said. “We have room to grow, but we will always try to maintain about 15 students in each class. We always have a lot of teacher-student interaction, so we need the classes to stay small.”
The school is behind Belmont Baptist Church, which donated the space.
The school will have its Jubilee Celebration Nov. 1 at the campus. Families are gathering letters, photos and other items for a time capsule that will be buried at the school to celebrate the 50th day of school. In 50 years, the school will open the capsules to learn about the founding families, students, faculty and staff.
And the Barnes & Noble in Carrollwood will play host to a book fair fundraiser Nov. 11-18 for the school. Students will give presentations Nov. 17 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
For more information, visit http://www.thepaideiaschool.org or call 988-7700.