The Nu Alpha Gamma Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, an organization of women educators in Dallas County, has teamed with the Dallas County Conservation Board in creating a new interactive audio exhibit in the Alton Schoolhouse at Forest Park Museum.
A dedication ceremony for the new exhibit will be held Saturday, May 5 at 9:30 a.m. at Forest Park Museum, 14581 K Ave. in Perry. Attendees will meet the people behind the voices on the audio exhibit and view pictures of rural schoolhouses in a brief video before moving to the one-room schoolhouse itself, which dates from the 1800s.
Produced by the members of Nu Alpha Gamma, the exhibit features former teachers and students relating their experiences at rural schools. Visitors will be able to press a button and listen to their stories first hand.
Nu Alpha Gamma Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International is a society of women teachers. Members are current and retired teachers who look to further education in many ways — both in and out of the traditional classroom. They adopted the Alton Schoolhouse at Forest Park Museum some years ago, hoping to enhance and highlight the crucial place of the one-room school in our rural educational heritage.
“One-room schoolhouses are vanishing from the landscape along with the unique education experience they offered,” said project chairperson and longtime Nu Alpha Gamma member Sue Leslie of Perry. “We hope to preserve those memories for generations to come.”
Funding for the audio project came from grants from the Dallas County Foundation, Grow Greene County, Iowa Preservation, Upsilon State Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International and Nu Alpha Gamma. Technical help was provided by Raccoon Valley Radio and Pegasus TV.
