ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610010057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
EXPLORE PARK hopes to become more than a living history park. It hopes to help schools teach the new curriculum demanded by the state.
Soon, a trip to Explore Park for schoolchildren may be more than just an outing to experience life as it was in frontier Virginia.
It could become a classroom where students can learn concepts and principles of math, science and language - as well as history - that are required in the state's new academic standards.
The park's historical demonstrations and exhibits already incorporate much information that students are expected to learn under the new standards, Explore officials said Monday.
The park plans to develop more programs that will enable it to assume a larger role in helping school systems meet the academic benchmarks, said Rupert Cutler, executive director.
"I've already developed a skeleton list of the standards of learning that pertain to the interpretative programs we have, and I'm planning to develop more," said Bill VanVelzer, education and outreach program coordinator.
Explore interpreters can teach economics and social history in the farming exhibits and the principles of molecular structure in metal-forging demonstrations, he said.
A key component in the expanded effort will be an education center that will be a memorial to the late John W. Hancock Jr., one of the Roanoke businessmen who helped initiate Explore in 1985.
Nearly $700,000 already has been donated by several corporations and individuals for the center, which will be built between the park's main parking lot and the Roanoke River.
Henry Browne, a Charlottesville architect who specializes in historic restoration preservation, has prepared a schematic for the education center.
He met Monday with school superintendents and other top school administrators from the Roanoke Valley and nearby counties to get reactions and suggestions for the facility.
The school officials generally liked the design, but several said they hoped the classrooms can be designed so they can be heated later if funds become available.
With the current budget, Browne said the park can't afford to put heat or air-conditioning in the classrooms, though they could be added later.
Several superintendents said they would like to see laboratory facilities for science and environmental studies. The plan calls for labs, but they would not be included in the initial phase.
Roanoke County Superintendent Deanna Gordon said she hopes the center will include facilities for drama, music and fine arts as well as science.
The center will include a covered amphitheater-style facility with several small classrooms, restrooms and parking facilities. The amphitheater will enable the park to present both traditional auditorium-style programming and practical demonstrations such as log construction, wildlife programs and firemaking for which an indoor structure would be unsuitable.
Browne said the covering on the amphitheater will protect audiences from bad weather during lectures, concerts and historical demonstrations. It could also be used for orientation sessions for students who arrive for a park visit in bad weather, he said.
The center will also include a library research facility and offices for educational personnel, teachers and student interns.
Cutler said it is envisioned that teachers could come to the center for retreats and training.
Explore's General Manager Chet Simmons said the timetable calls for the center to be completed by the fall of 1998.
He expects more schoolchildren to visit Explore after the center opens. About 12,000 students will visit the park this year, up from 7,000 last year.
Simmons said Explore could make a stronger argument for more state funds it if could attract 25,000 to 30,000 schoolchildren a year.
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