Teaching Students about Fort St. Joseph

Hello, 

Today, I would like to share my experience visiting Edwardsburg High School. For those who do not know Edwardsburg, Michigan is a town right outside of Niles, Michigan and many students that attend the Edwardsburg School system live in Niles. It is about a 10 minute drive to Fort St. Joseph from Edwardsburg. I am also a graduate of Edwardsburg High! 

The reason for my visit was to share information with high school students ranging from 9th to 12th grade about Fort St. Joseph, the Fur Trade, and archaeology in general. I was very excited to return and speak to students about my work on-site, in the lab, and at the Niles History Center. Erika Hartley, the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Director from WMU, and Mollie Watson, the Assistant Director of the Niles History Center, brought along artifacts and furs to use as educational props to engage the students. 

Growing up, I had always wanted to pursue a career that involved excavating history! I wanted to explore fields like paleontology to archaeology, knowing that something along these subjects would be my dream career. I was obsessed with history and eager to learn more about what is beneath the surface. However, I never really thought about or understood how to enter this field beyond simply going to school for it. This was a significant part of my motivation for returning to Edwardsburg. I wanted to demonstrate to students who may share similar aspirations for a career in anthropology and hopefully show the students at my former high school that working as an anthropologist can be both rewarding and exciting. What really made this interesting for me is that when I graduated my brother was a freshman and now when I came back he was a Senior. Through playing on sports teams, I have come to know a lot of people in the 2024 senior class, making this a special opportunity. On top of that I got to speak to my brother’s class which was something that I have never thought about happening prior to this presentation.

Throughout this outreach experience, I believe that Erika and I were able to help teach students and even some teachers more about the history of their own area. When I graduated High School I never was taught about Fort St. Joseph or really much of any history about the area that I grew up in. I was very thankful that through my university I was able to learn more about the place that I was born and raised and make more connections back there that have helped me in my career. Thanks to this opportunity, I hope that I was able to show students that the connections that you make in college can and will help you further your career in life.

Carson