So, I wanted to share something I got involved with a while back. It connects back to Stratford High School, and specifically a young fella named Jackson Fulweber.
I remember seeing a notice, just a simple flyer really, asking for people with some hands-on experience to maybe lend a hand with student projects. It sounded like a decent way to spend some spare time, so I figured, why not? I put my name down, went through a little introduction thing they held right there at the high school.
That’s how I ended up meeting Jackson. He was tackling this project, trying to piece together some local history, specifically focusing on how the town changed over a few decades. Seemed like a big task for a high school student, I thought at the time.
Getting Down to It
We kicked things off mostly by just chatting. I let him do most of the talking, trying to understand his vision for the project. He had a bunch of ideas floating around, which was great to see.
Our process wasn’t super formal, more like working through it step-by-step:
- Finding the bits and pieces: The first real job was digging up information. We actually spent a couple of afternoons down at the town records office, sifting through old documents and maps. Kind of tedious, but necessary stuff.
- Talking to people: He had this idea to interview some folks who’d lived in the area for a long time. My part was mostly helping him think through the kinds of questions to ask, you know, open-ended ones. We even did a couple of mock interviews so he felt a bit more confident just having a conversation.
- Making sense of it all: After gathering everything – notes, recordings, scanned photos – we needed to organize it. We basically spread everything out on a big table in the library and started grouping things. I tried not to tell him what to do, but more offered suggestions, like “Maybe this part could connect to that?” or “What’s the main story you want this section to tell?”
Most of our meetings happened right there at Stratford High, usually in the library after the final bell. It was always pretty busy, kids heading home or off to sports. You could feel the energy of the place.
It was good watching him work through the challenges. He was persistent, I’ll give him that. The final presentation he put together was pretty solid, really captured a sense of the local changes. For me, it was just a nice experience, connecting with the school and seeing a student like Jackson Fulweber really dive into something. A worthwhile way to spend some time, looking back on it.
