The Century Farms Project By Zack Howell and Kylie Nielsen

Photo by Zack Howell

American history class and Mr Trautman's 4th grade class working on century farms project

This project is where Members of Deuel County that own a Century Farm were invited to speak to Mrs. Schwenn's American History classes and Mr. Trautman's 4th grade class. Students will be interviewing the farm owners and learning about how they came to live in SD, what life was like on the farm, and how things have changed over the years. After the interview, the history students will be writing an article based on the interview and the 4th graders will be drawing pictures to go with the articles. The interview days are being sponsored by the Design SD: Rural Development Project, assisted by Briana Hoffman. Over the course of two days, 14 people came in to tell their stories.
It deals with American history by telling the history of how people came and settled in South Dakota is just one of the parts of the American experience. For example, it has been interesting to hear about how the Homestead Act had a lasting affect in the local people of Deuel County. They are doing this to help educate current American History students and to share their stories with the larger community through the project. They are called century farms because they have existed for over a century, 100 years. Both of Ms Schwenn’s American history classes are involved in this project and Mr. Trautman’s 4th grade class.