Blackstone Valley Historical Society

The Valley Breeze

Monday, November 20, 2006

History teacher to share insights with B.V. Historical Society

LINCOLN - Central Falls teacher Bob Scappini will share his insights about engaging students in local history lessons on Sunday, Nov. 19, at a meeting of the Blackstone Valley Historical Society.

Society members and the public are invited to the program at the society's headquarters, North Gate, Louisquisset Pike and Wilbur Road, off Route 146. The presentation will follow a brief business meeting that begins at 1 p.m.

Scappini "has opened a whole new world of connections for children and grandchildren of immigrants who once labored in the neighborhood mills around the clock," said Al Klyberg, of the historical society.

"Scappini's resume is ripe with grants and awards he has won over the years for making history sparkle for Central Falls students by showing them to connections between their lives and those who 'lived back in the day,'" Klyberg said. "He has shown them that history literally is right under their feet and stories right around the kitchen table."

Klyberg said Scappini engages local students in digging up the past of ordinary people.

Scappini's projects include "tracing the history of the Works Projects Administration installation of the city sidewalks, to oral histories of mill workers, the historical background of the Jenks Park souvenir artillery cannon, the 1918 flu epidemic, and an inventory of local inventors, engineers and entrepreneurs."

Klyberg said Scappini's approach drives home the relevance of the study of American history.

"In the process, students who might have not known of their own place in history were awakened to a whole new world of self-identity, community connection, and pride."

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