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.
