ASHTABULA — Students at Ss. John & Paul Elementary are learning about the area’s history by studying the county’s wooden and steel time tunnels.
Donna Capuano’s third-graders researched covered and historical bridges, wrote reports and built models of the structure. Some of them, like Adam Passerell, also went on a field trip to their assigned bridge to gain a first-hand impression.
“It looked a lot different from what I thought it would,” said Adam, who visited the Wiswell Road covered bridge in Windsor Township. “I thought it would look a lot higher from the ground.”
Ava Severino enjoyed researching her bridge, Forman Road, which was converted into the Covered Bridge Pizza Parlor in North Kingsville.
“I actually ate there,” she said. “I found an old picture of it on the Internet and I copied it.”
Ava built her model from popsicle sticks, a realistic choice for re-creating the lattice work of the old bridges.
“My Dad said I should (make it that way) because it would help it stay up,” she said.
Capuano said this was the first year she used the local bridges theme for the social studies class. She said the bridge project grew out of discussions about transportation.
She assigned a different bridge to each student. Tommy Laveck worked on the railroad bridge that collapsed into the Ashtabula River Gulf on Dec. 29, 1876. He built the bridge’s abutments from Styrofoam blocks and made the bridge large enough to hold a section of “O” gauge track. Tommy plans to use his bridge in his Lionel train layout. Adam Passerell had plans for his bridge, too.
“I’m going to put it in my room in a special place,” he said.
Currents
Related Photos
Discussion
Ss. John & Paul students build bridges
- Currents
-
-
The missing Heifner mystery
Lambert Mason Heifner had big plans for Geneva, Ohio.
-
From bikes to autos
On the west side of Geneva is an Ohio Historical Society marker that alerts motorists to the birthplace of an American automotive industry giant, Ransom E. Olds.
-
The institute on the knoll
Its alumni include one of the first female judges in the United States, a scholar who worked on the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, a famous Lincoln impersonator and numerous prominent attorneys, educators and lecturers.
-
A princess with Conneaut connections
The atmosphere in the Cafe Falillard reeked of illicit romance.
-
Mr. Hulett’s invention
When the shipping season opened at Conneaut 113 years ago this spring, there was on the ore dock a new piece of machinery that looked like something left over from “The War of the Worlds.”
-
The McAdams mystery
In an old section of Edgewood Cemetery, perched near the Ashtabula River Gulf, is a row of worn, simple tombstones that give no hint of the great mystery behind the deaths they represent.
-
Saga of the John B. Lyon
The hurricane that smashed into Galveston, Texas, on Sept. 8, 1900, left up to 12,000 individuals dead in its wake.
-
Walter Main memorabilia back on display in Geneva
When Mike Lubin first moved to Madison and saw the sign for Walter Main Road on the west side of Geneva, he thought it read “Water Main” and decided to check it out.
-
Orwell’s man of adventure and the circus
There must be something in the blood of Scotsmen that makes them successful as circus owners.
-
Sir Henry’s last ride
For more than 120 years, a white marble circus horse has stood in Windsor Township as reminder of both the glory days of mud circuses and a tragic romance.
- More Currents Headlines
-
