Kindergarten
students listen as Corrine Berati displays a dinosaur-related fossil at
Prospect Elementary School.
A former
first-grade teacher turned entrepreneur brought her American History Traveling
Museum to Prospect Elementary School on Friday.
Corrine
Berati, assisted by her daughter Kaitlyn, set up a series of displays in the
gym that included dinosaur-related fossils, Abraham Lincoln, the moon landings
and World War I and World War II.
Mother and daughter wore bright yellow shirts bearing the message, “If history repeats itself, I am getting a dinosaur.”
“I taught first grade for five years and subbed for three more,” said Corrine Berati, who has a degree in archaeology. “At Ohio’s Historical Archaeological Society, where I am a member, I talked to the others about how I would like to create a traveling museum of American history. Other members contributed artifacts and financial support and the idea just took off.”
The Lincoln exhibit includes a letter written and signed by the Civil War-era president. A display about the Titanic features photos of the ship and the ship’s dinner menu. Actual newspaper front pages scream the end of the two world wars, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
Younger
students were steered to the dinosaur exhibit and a long geological table where
they used magnifying glasses to examine various kinds of insects encased in
plastic and rocks.
The Beratis’ visit was arranged by teacher Maria Aivaliotis, who obtained a Richland County Foundation grant to pay for it.
Berati said
the traveling museum has evolved since its inception three years ago.
“We started out borrowing my parents’ van until we had enough money to buy a trailer. Our hope is to one day have an RV,” she said. “We visit schools primarily in Ohio but we also have been to West Virginia and Kentucky.
“We’re excited that we have a series of school visits in Florida planned for January. Our vision is one day a sea to shining sea tour.”