Lunchbox learning program set at one-room schoolhouse

There are many ways to define history. But no matter what definition is accepted, it is important to see that history is the story of people and what has happened to people in families and communities. History is all around us, no matter where we live, and it is our story.

The newly-renovated one-room schoolhouse, located in the Antelope County Museum Complex, is hosting a lunch box learning program that looks back in time about Nebraska and western history. Programs and curriculum topics once used in education in rural Nebraska schools will be viewed and content will be discussed.

In the 1940s through 1980s, most of what a person came to understand about the world came from classroom textbooks and stories about what a person heard or saw using media. How influential was media in the classroom back then? How much of what we had available is relevant yet today? Do students realize that history comes out of books in carefully defined doses? How important is reviewing the past as much for adults as students when it comes to repairing the world?

Longhorns and Cowpunchers will be presented Wednesday, March 11, at 7 p.m.

Participates will view the filmstrip and listen to audiotape titled, Sites and Sounds of Historic Nebraska, a program produced for ETV network and narrated by Dr. Robert Manley. It is based on the story of how cattle business got started in the plains and the challenges between the cattleman and the homesteader.

The goal is to appreciate problems relating to Nebraska's colorful and exciting past.

Cattlemen were among the first to recognize that the Great Plains was a region possessing a unique environment. They realized that men would have to adjust to this environment if they were to survive and make a living. Although not many cowboys could read or write (their three Rs were riding, roping and roundup), they could read brands. Participants will discuss what's in the name of a branding iron, and try their luck at interpreting cowboy lingo.

The program is free of charge. Because of limited seating at the schoolhouse, participants are asked to register no later than two days before the program. To register, email Gloria Christiansen at [email protected] or phone 402-929-0330.