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A 110-year-old school museum in Sanford soon will become the home of the new UCF Center for Public History, where university students will learn how to preserve, interpret and teach the past.

A two-year lease was signed last week with the Seminole County School Board to start classes and programs at its Student Museum in July. The 1902 building in the middle of the city 麻豆精品 S檚 historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

麻豆精品 S淭he Student Museum building is an ideal site because of its own rich heritage as well as the City of Sanford 麻豆精品 S檚 significant architectural history and grassroots historic-preservation movement, 麻豆精品 S� said Rosalind Beiler, UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 director of Public History.

The new center at 301 W. 7th St. is intended to foster a close connection between the community and UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 research projects. 麻豆精品 S淏y definition, public history engages community partners, 麻豆精品 S� Beiler said.

The university will blend the old and the new with its plans for the museum. While maintaining the museum 麻豆精品 S檚 current offerings 麻豆精品 S� such as leading 4th graders on field trips through the museum to learn about Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 past 麻豆精品 S� the university will teach its history students how to use new-media techniques of audio, video and digital technologies to create virtual exhibits, artifact databases, podcasts and other projects.

麻豆精品 S淭hrough this partnership, we will preserve an important link between today 麻豆精品 S檚 tech-savvy students and how our ancestors lived and worked more than a century ago, 麻豆精品 S� said UCF Provost and Executive Vice President Tony G. Waldrop. 麻豆精品 S淭he museum also is an outstanding laboratory that will prepare our students for careers in a field that helps all of us connect with and learn from our past. 麻豆精品 S�

Beiler said the university chose Sanford because the city is already committed to historic preservation through the Community Redevelopment Association, Historic Preservation Board and Sanford Historic Trust. The university is planning to hold public workshops and seminars at the Student Museum, along with gathering oral histories.

麻豆精品 S淭his partnership preserves an important part of history for Sanford, Seminole County, students and the whole community, 麻豆精品 S� said Bill Vogel, Seminole 麻豆精品 S檚 schools superintendent. 麻豆精品 S淭his is so important to the whole preservation efforts of Sanford. Because of UCF, this could be a centerpiece. 麻豆精品 S�

The Student Museum is one of the few surviving examples in Florida of school architecture at the turn of the 20th century. The 20,000-square-foot Romanesque Revival brick building opened as Sanford 麻豆精品 S檚 first high school and became a grammar school in 1911. In 1984, it was given the title of Student Museum and Center for the Social Studies, and it has since served as an interpretive center and a hands-on teaching museum.

UCF students will be able to experience the museum 麻豆精品 S檚 1902 classroom with original woodwork and slate boards, a portrait of then-President Theodore Roosevelt and other period artifacts; a Native American room that represents a 1,200-year-old Timucua village; and a pioneer room with a log cabin and tools. The museum also features Grandma 麻豆精品 S檚 Attic, where visitors can handle old household items, try on vintage clothes, learn how to churn butter and make candles; the Georgetown and Crooms High School exhibits, which feature information about the city 麻豆精品 S檚 African-American community; and other displays.

Behind the museum is a teaching garden that provides students the opportunity to plant and identify vegetables grown at the turn of the last century. There also are Florida native plants, antique roses, a wildflower meadow, field crops and other horticultural displays. Across the street from the museum is the city 麻豆精品 S檚 historic tree grove in Touhy Park, which contains about 70 trees that are associated somehow with people, places and events around the country. There are sycamores, magnolias, maples, walnuts and others from Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Mount Vernon, Ellis Island, the Alamo and elsewhere.

麻豆精品 S淜ids thrive on these historical projects, and teachers are going to flock to the center, 麻豆精品 S� said Anna-Marie Cote, deputy superintendent for Seminole schools.