Working with the Youth

Hello everyone!  

The first week with campers went amazing! Ten middle schoolers came down to Fort St. Joseph to learn about our archaeological investigations. First, the campers would go to the library in the morning to learn about different things each day, and then arrive on site at 12 pm. This gave field school students some time to work on their units without additional people on site to sidetrack us. When they got settled, they were then split into two groups, one group digging units and one group wetscreening for artifacts. The campers who were digging either got to help some WMU students dig or got to dig in their own units. The students who wetscreened helped us on the other side of the screen, swapping occasionally between activities.  

These set of campers were high energy! They did have a tough time focusing at times because they got along with each other so well, but they could easily be put back on track. Most kids were able to correctly identify some artifacts with little to no help (many did mistakes rocks for artifacts, but that’s excusable). Despite not all the kids wanting to do archeology when they get older, they all were motivated and able to retain information about certain units, artifacts, or the process as a whole. It is interesting to see how the kids use and talk about archeology as it relates to their future careers. One kid said he wanted to be a marine biologist, so he needed to learn how to find and analyze bones. From what I could tell, the campers loved the experience and most of them said they would do it again (and some already have many times!).  

It’s so refreshing to see kids choosing to be (or parents choosing their kids to be) a part of this week-long program. When the kids are doing the program, the parents and/or family members get curious about what we’re learning from what we have found. They ask a lot of questions, to us and their camper, and gain a better understanding for the history of this small area in Niles. Knowledge of the Fort is then passed between adults who are curious about it or didn’t know much about it beforehand. The campers also tell their friends about their experiences, and then we have new campers who want the hands-on version of the exciting things that were told to them. Additional support for the Fort allows us to continue investigating it's remains and share it with the community.            

-Kierra