First-grade students in Athens have closed up their textbooks and gone straight to the source — primary source records at the Limestone County Archives — to create an exhibit that highlights and celebrates the changes in Athens and Limestone County education from the past to the present.

Now on display at the Limestone County Archives exhibit space, “Limestone County Schools Then and Now” combines display boards and narrative videos created by first-grade students at FAME Academy at Brookhill Elementary School with historic local school documents and photos from the Limestone County Archives collections.

“It has been thrilling to work with these bright children and their innovative teachers to help them learn about Limestone County history directly from the historic record and then to share what they have learned,” Limestone County Archivist Rebekah Davis said. “And because we now have our Limestone County Digital Archives online, I was able to Zoom with the class, show them how to research our digitized collections and work with their teachers remotely to make their vision a reality, even during a time that they cannot take a field trip to the Archives to research as a class.”

The students’ exhibit compares aspects of education over the years, such as school buildings, transportation, recreation and materials. By scanning QR codes on the boards, visitors can view narrative videos created by the students, explaining more of the contrast between education then and now.

“The students were excited to learn more about their home, Limestone County, as an extension of the learning from the ‘1st Grade Now and Then’ unit. The project was authentic and helped the students make real-world connections,” said first-grade teacher De’Onna Goodloe, who conceived and led the work on this exhibit for FAME Academy. “There was even a chance for parents to participate in the unit study by sharing school-age pictures of themselves, kicking off our study of school now and then.”

Goodloe said students took ownership of their learning by assigning group roles, leading reflections and even producing a video to accompany their display boards.

“Because this was a group effort, the students were able to sharpen their communication and collaboration skills. Overall, the students worked very hard to complete this project and are very excited to share with the community,” she said.

The complementary Archives exhibit displays historic yearbooks, textbooks and photographs, as well as the contrast between schools for white and Black students when local schools were segregated prior to 1970.

The exhibit is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the Limestone County Archives, 102 W. Washington St., Athens. For more information, email archives@limestonecounty.gov or call 256-233-6404.