ISC students visit Mongui Maduro Library and Museum

On October 19^th our staff welcomed a group of 18 students from the International School of Curaçao (ISC) for a library and Museum visit. Teacher Paul Volkman took the initiative to take his students, aged 13-16 to the Mongui Maduro Library and Museum for a tour and to work on clas assignments. Although the MML collection is not geared towards high school students Mr.Volkmann still found it important for his students to visit our library. In a message to the MML Library staff he explained why: “I intend for the students to gain an understanding that documents do exist in a physical location other than just on the internet”.

The ISC visit was more than just a tour. . Based on these research projects the students were to create a online portfolio to help the younger ISC students to learn about the history of our island. The library staff did its utmost to find documents about the research topics selected by the students. It was not easy to find materials in English and not to complex to understand for 13-16 year olds. But the staff succeeded in finding some relevant documents. During their visit the students had very limited time to work on their research projects. Luckily the library was open the next day Saturday October 20^th so some of them made use of the opportunity to work to come to the library to work on their projects, others finished their projects at school.

All in all it was a very successful visit. The students were fascinated by the history of Plantation House Rooi Catootje and gained valuable knowledge for their research projects. Hopefully more history teachers will follow to the example of teacher Volkman and tale their class for an educational trip to Mongui Maduro Museum and Library.