Museum Trains Next Generation Of Docents

By RACHEL S. KARAS
The Frederick News-Post

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- Katie Carder's quill was almost finished scratching a smiling face into her paper, but in 18th-century Frederick, her "historic" smiley needed a bonnet.

Giggling, she knocked over the inkwell for the second time in five minutes.

Katie, 12, was learning the art of being a docent, or volunteer guide, at the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum in Frederick.

The museum ended its Junior Docent sessions on Thursday. The pilot program introduced middle school history buffs to sewing, painting and other cultural traditions of the area's German roots.

Three 12-year-old girls participated in the weekly program that began last month.

Junior docents learned about the Brunner family, who built the original wooden Schifferstadt house in 1746. The stone building was constructed in 1758, then deemed a historical landmark and bought by the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation in 1974.

The home remains one of the oldest standing buildings in Frederick, master docent Joan Leuthner said.

"I love the fact that (the house) is so old and I get to be a part of it," said Katie, a seventh-grader at West Frederick Middle School. "It makes me realize everything we have that they didn't back then."

Organizers hoped to teach local students about Frederick's Colonial history instead of the often-discussed Civil War era, Frederick County Landmarks Foundation administrator Melanie Gettier said.

But becoming a docent is more than memorizing facts. The girls can use skills learned at Schifferstadt in every area of their education, Gettier said.

"It's teaching people how to get up in front of a crowd and present," Gettier said. "Our approach here is to have a conversation with the visitor."

Lily Chalkley, another West Frederick seventh-grader, has visited Germany and said Schifferstadt adds a Colonial perspective.

Her tour-giving skills could use some work, Lily said, but she enjoyed getting to know the house and its legacy.

"It's part of the past, and it'd be lost otherwise," she said.

Leuthner, who led the program, said middle school is a great age for teaching history.

"The interest is there, they see things in a fresh way, and they like to be on the go," she said. "A lot of our visitors are like that."

Gettier said the museum hopes to expand its docent pilot programs to other age groups, such as high schoolers or retirees.

But for Leuthner, seeing children wear bonnets and explore the home offers a unique look at the way life might have been.

"The history is so high-interest to me," Leuthner said. "To be able to share it with young people ... it brings it to life."

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)