Johnson's Island

On April 24, 2013, I had the opportunity to attend the field trip to Johnson's Island with Mr. Jaworski and a group of 19 freshman students from ECHS. Students met before school in a classroom to gather materials and divide into groups for the archaeological dig for the day. As students marched to the bus, they were pelted with the first drops of rain that would foreshadow the day's experience. One hour later students crossed over the man made bridge from Marblehead to Johnson's Island. Because of the unremitting rain, the tour of the cemetery was delayed.

Students exited the bus and paced to the large white tent where they would spend the next several hours of their day. Students were welcomed by Dr. Bush and three other workers who would be the leaders of the four groups. The students were instructed on excavating the soil so they would not disturb and damage any artifacts. Then, students were shown how to sift through the dirt and discover artifacts and field specimen for later analysis. Finally, since students cannot simply dig and sift through the dirt, they were shown how to document their findings.

The students worked for several hours inside of the cold and wet tent that was intended to protect them from the elements. As the day went on, the ground that was covered with plastic and tarps began to soak up the rain water from outside. At one point the staff of the site had to use buckets to pick up and drain large pools of water. Regardless of the inclement weather, the students pursed the learning experience with fervent attitudes! Complaints were a rarity among students as they were finding artifacts and documenting their discoveries. Overall the students were able to find several hundred artifacts that ranged from glass to ceramics and bricks to bones and seven field specimens that were mostly comprised of tops or bottoms of glass bottles, a partial ring, a whole ring, and a partial button. Mr. Jaworski and I were immensely proud of the ECHS students for their determination to fight through the weather in pursuit of knowledge and discovery!