Megan Ward and Jeff McGranahan helped history come to life for a group of Ocean City Intermediate School students on Thursday evening.
Ward is a fourth-grade teacher and McGranahan the executive director of the Ocean City Historical Museum.
The pair teamed up to create a class project in which the students created designs for their own historical museums dedicated to Ocean City history. The drawings were unveiled at an exhibit opening and reception on Thursday (Nov. 12) at the museum.
“History is so important for you to understand your place in your own community and the world,” McGranahan said to a group of students and parents at the reception on Thursday.
New Jersey history is part of the fourth-grade curriculum, and Ocean City students dedicate a lot of it to local history, Ward said. The class is reading “Takashi’s Voyage: the Wreck of the Sindia,” historical fiction based on the 1901 shipwreck off Ocean City in 1901.
The museum is an important resource in the study of the Sindia and of Ocean City history.
At the reception, volunteer Babs Stefano, a former teacher, encouraged the young historians to join “Team Vulture.”
The team, like its namesake, is dedicated to scavenger hunting. Students are encouraged to complete five scavenger hunts for artifacts in the museum. As they complete each one, they get a stamp in their passport. When the passport is complete, students get to join the team and attend a Team Vulture party.
Anybody can view the exhibit of student museum designs. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday with extended hours to 7 p.m. on Thursday. The museum is part of the Ocean City Community Center at 1735 Simpson Avenue.
