Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society

Talking Walls

 

Annually beginning the third week in July, a unique “classroom” fills during the Talking Walls heritage education workshop. This hands-on, interactive weeklong program, established by The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation in 1991, is conducted by Cobb Landmarks in partnership with The Georgia Trust, Kennesaw State University, and the Cobb County School System. The goal of Talking Walls is to put teachers and their students in touch with local historic resources while learning about the cultural and folk traditions of their community. Participants earn 3 PLU credits for course completion.

 

The “classroom” in this case includes East Cobb’s 1840s Hyde Farm and Power Cabin, Acworth’s Rosenwald School and Bethel A.M.E. Church, Marietta’s Root House Museum, and the Marietta Museum of History. The Talking Walls program brings the classroom to the streets of Marietta, with walking tours of the Church Street-Cherokee Street Historic District and the Marietta City Cemetery. In a more traditional classroom setting, the teachers attend sessions on oral history and architectural history.

 

 

Funded by a generous grant from the Vaughan Foundation, Inc., the Talking Walls program is tuition free and supplies the teachers with resource materials. Transportation and meals expenses are also included without cost to the teachers. On tap each summer for participants is an authentic 1850s style lunch cooked on the wood stove at the Root House Museum and soul food southern fare from Doug’s Place while visiting the African-American resources in Acworth.

 

The Vaughan Foundation’s generous grant enables CLHS to offer a comprehensive program, incorporating a broad spectrum of field experiences. The funding also allows the program to be facilitated by seasoned social studies teacher, Carla Carden Miller, whose enthusiasm for local history made Cobb’s rich heritage come alive for the teachers.

 

The best recommendation for this heritage education program is to hear what other teachers have to say about Cobb Landmark’s Talking Walls. One veteran teacher with 25 years’ experience commented, “This has been the best staff development class I have ever attended.” When asked to identify the most useful part of the workshop, one teacher responded, “Learning the area where I have lived for years and knew absolutely nothing about”. Cobb Landmarks feels there is no better way to educate Cobb’s youth than by teaching her teachers about Cobb’s rich and diverse heritage and offering insight into including heritage resources in the day-to-day curriculum.

 

1. Download Summer 2010 Talking Walls schedule.

 

To register for the Summer 2010 program, July 12th-16th, 2010, or for more information about the program, email talkingwalls@cobblandmarks.com or Cobb County teachers can register through their INFORM access after March 1st, 2010.

 

• School Tours
• Home School Tours
• Special Tours
• Traveling Exhibits
• Talking Walls
• Hall Pass Program