The Student Museum

I had the wonderful opportunity to tour a The Student Museum located in Sanford Florida. When you are driving on 7th street in Sanford, you can easily spot the school with its red bricks and romanesque design. You can almost feel yourself going back in time and you have not even stepped into the building yet. The feeling of the surrounding structures and the big trees makes the experience feel so genuine because you are not viewing a busy highway next to the historical building. I took a moment to walk around on the sidewalk and take a look around outside. There is a big sign of the eradication date which is 1902. The there is the main building with two wings and beautiful landscaping. There is also a spot in the back with a plaque that shows where the school cafeteria once sat. I then went through the gates and went to the greeter. I was able to learn about how the school was originally Sanford High School and how it is now maintained by UCF Public History Center.

 The first stop was going upstairs to take a look at the big auditorium set up for events and field trips. It is a large room with several tables and to the right hand side there was historic pieces displayed that I took a moment to look at. I went down the second set of stairs admiring the flags hanging from the ceiling as I went along. When I got back to where the greeting station was. The right had two exhibits set up in the same building. One was a set up of the Pioneer times and there was a set up of a cabin and inside it was displayed exactly how people lived during that time. I was able to see how pioneers lived and the different building methods used as well as see different animal skins used hung up outside the house. Across from the pioneer exhibit was a Native American Exhibit where I was able to look at their living arrangements and the tools used. My favorite room by far was the school room set up just as it would have been in 1902. The pictures of President Roosevelt and the Flag with 45 stars was a sight to see and I laughed out loud when I saw the stool in the corner with the dunce cap placed on top of it. I am happy we do not do that anymore! I was then ready to explore the other wings. I was told that one wing contained Archives but they were moving stuff around at the moment so I went to the other side which had a Geography room which had a huge puzzle map of Florida on the floor and a huge globe! Across the hall was an area where you could see how people lived during different times in the area and it was very interesting to see the display of phones among other electronics that have drastically changed since the early 20th century and beyond. I then went outside to view the gardens. There was a rose garden, butterfly garden, a native garden as well as a pioneer garden. The walkways made of stepping stones and bricks allowed you to walk around and view the different gardens and I found myself watching where I stepped because there were hundreds of crickets around! The gardens just added to the beauty of the old and preserved structure.

This was such an excellent experience and I am very happy it was required in the class. I found out so much about an area less than hour away from my home and I learned more about the history of Florida Education while having fun!