Downtown Tour 2015

As a tour leader, I enjoyed getting to interact with the sixth graders and teach them my knowledge of downtown Roanoke. From preparing to teach them in the classroom and downtown, I learned more about our small town. I've obtained a greater appreciation for the buildings and history of this town. I hope that taking the sixth graders on a tour and passing down my knowledge has given them a greater appreciation of Roanoke as well. Most students thoroughly enjoyed the tour and were engaged in learning the whole time. History is important to pass down through generations, especially history of the place you live. Now that these sixth graders know some history of Roanoke, they can pass it along to their siblings, friends, cousins, and others. History is important to plan for the future; we must know the history and preserve it. With the information learned, the young students hopefully gained a sense of pride for this community. Our town will need leaders from this generation one day, and these students already have a jump start on knowing the history. Roanoke had at least two fallout shelters that we know about; one is in the old leader office and the other in old post office which is now a museum. It was fascinating to see the materials and provisions in the basement of the post office. Someone could've done away with those things years ago, but they kept them for future generations to see. I find it interesting to see how items have changed overtime. Hopefully each student had a great time and will pass down something they now know about the history of downtown Roanoke.