University mentors + high school teachers + non-profit = Roots with Wings
2019 Roots With Wings Flies in a New Direction
This semester the Roots with Wings: Floyd County Place-based Education Oral History Project switches things up, with Radford University students partnering with teachers from Floyd County High School to record and preserve local history. After years of successful work with Floyd County High School and Radford University students, our project welcomes the unique perspective of Floyd County teachers, who lead the future of Floyd County youth with strong community ties.
In this version of the Project, Floyd County Public School faculty are obtaining professional development points toward teaching credential relicensure. Radford University (RU) students are receiving course and Internship credit in the Sociology Department and through the Citizen-Leader Program.
Radford University students have been meeting with the teachers weekly since January 30th. As project leaders, Dr Melinda Wagner and Catherine Pauley have said, this is the vanguard for the future of this project, but is also returns to the rootsof the project as it first began in 1998, when RU student interviews helped launch the oral history program.
At our February 7th meeting, we paired up to practice audio recording with the trusty Marantz and the new Tascam recorders to prepare ourselves for the upcoming Spring oral history interviews. We’re all looking forward to discovering more about the unique community of Floyd and methods for conserving local history.