Stanton wanted to take her students to Serpent Mound in Adams County, but the cost was prohibitive. “I really wanted them to see this,” Stanton said, “but that was impossible so I thought, ‘Why don’t we bring the Serpent Mound to them?’ They can have the experience… the effort … it took to build it.”
And build it they did — right in front of the school.
The project was part of the school’s end-of-the-year hands-on activities under the theme of the Ohio State Fair, with the goal of exposing students to a variety of Ohio subjects, including Annie Oakley, state bridge construction, famous Ohio inventors, fossil excavation and Serpent Mound.
Students including Camden Coldwell used graph paper to design the model effigy, which turned out to be about 40 feet long.
“We had a sod cutter (from Tom’s Mulch and Landscaping), and he cut the grass and flipped it over,” Stanton said. “We packed the soil down on the sod we turned over.”
Topsoil and mulch were then placed on top of the turned-over sod. Judd Powell, owner of Tom’s Mulch and Landscaping, donated not only the time of one of his crewmen, but also $300 worth of topsoil and mulch for the project. “I have kids … and we like to give back,” Powell said. “It will create an educational value for the kids.”
Mendelson’s Liquidation Outlet donated about 50 red baskets so the students could carry topsoil and mulch to the mound the way the Fort Ancient people did almost 1,000 years ago to construct the real Serpent Mound.
Next, the children decorated the effigy with rocks. “Everybody in fourth grade found a rock and then they got a paper with all sorts of Native American symbols on it,” said fourth-grader Mary Landry.
“Then they drew a Native American symbol of their choice on it, and then gave them to Mrs. Stanton and then we just laid them out all around the serpent,” Mary said.
“They were really cooperative and had a great time,” Stanton said about the class of fourth-graders.
“Because we put all this hard work into it, I knew that it would just be better than just going out and looking at something when you actually get to work,” said fourth-grader Xavier Ward.
“I teach because I love to learn and life is amazing,” Stanton said. “I want my students to come away with that same feeling. Learning is exciting and we never stop.”
The children are excited and look forward to visiting the real Serpent Mound, some of them this summer. In the meantime, they can admire their own Serpent Mound. “We are hoping it will last until they graduate,” Stanton said.
The public is invited to view the model effigy at 3777 Upper Bellbrook Road in Bellbrook.
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