Our 2021-2022 DSMP collaboration began with field trip with our Orientation Explore! group this past Saturday. This first outing kicked off our collaboration with the Rock Hall Museum Board and the Waterman's Museum at Haven Harbour. Our community partners gave our students the warmest of welcomes and an incredible introduction to Rock Hall!
Students boarded the bus, greeted by welcome bags provided by Kent County's Tourism Office. Our day in Rock Hall began with a greeting from Mayor of Rock Hall, Dawn Jacobs and her husband, Maryland Delegate Jay Jacobs. Mayor and Delegate Jacobs welcomed students to Rock Hall and gave an overview of the town's history and culture (Delegate Jacobs even shared his recipe for Panko Rockfish!)
Mayor Jacobs arranged for our students to have a behind-the-scenes tour of Durdings Store--the town's historic apothecary/soda shoppe which is currently closed to the public. Students had an opportunity to learn more about this historic location and its significance to the town's history as well as view the artifacts in its collection. We were invited to eat our lunch in the space and gave students and community members had a quick tutorial on the VR and AR technology we will be using throughout our collaboration with our museum partners in Rock Hall this semester.
Students then participated in a GooseChase scavenger hunt designed to help them explore Rock Hall.
We then moved on to the museum we are partnering with this semester-the Waterman's Museum at Haven Harbor. Students explored the museum then participated in a close-looking activity facilitated by Sara Clarke-DeReza. Each student then "adopted" an object selected by the museum. The students completed an inquiry activity about their object which will be later used in the creation of the virtual tour. Mayor Jacobs and Haven Harbour's Sawyer Cornelius arranged for several local watermen whose ancestors were also Rock Hall watermen to join us to help answer students' questions and give them insights into the material culture objects they were interacting with. Also assisting in this process was Rob Forloney a museum professional who is serving as a consultant to the Rock Hall Museum Board. The activity culminated in students giving impromptu presentations about their "adopted" objects to one another and to our community partners.
Our Orientation Explore! students had an incredible first collaboration day and are enthusiastically looking forward to the next one! Our sincerest thanks to all of our community collaborators and the town of Rock Hall for making this such a memorable day for our students. Stay tuned for updates on this collaboration!