At the Mineola School District Board of Education meeting last Thursday at the Jackson Avenue School, Mrs. LoCascio and eight members of her second grade class gave a presentation about a special history project they are working on. Rather than the usual history lessons taught in school, these youngsters are learning about their hometown by doing a project on the history of Mineola.

After a visit to an aviation museum, Mrs. LoCascio learned that Mineola had an airfield and was involved in the first trial of airmail. The Jackson Avenue teacher decided to share that information with her class, sparking an interest in Mineola history.

As part of a social studies lesson focusing on community, the children and their teacher embarked on a search for Mineola history. The class took a bus tour of Mineola and shared their experiences with those who attended the board meeting.

Now, the project is in full swing and the children are looking for information pertaining to Mineola's history. They have written letters asking for anyone to share old photos or memories and have received help from the Mineola Historical Society and Village Historian Neil Young, who Mrs. LoCascio said has been a tremendous help.

Besides learning about Mineola history, the children are also developing other skills such as learning how to write friendly letters. The children wrote letters to longtime Mineola residents and have received helpful responses. The children are also interacting with residents of another generation and hope to receive help from the Mineola Golden Age and Leisure clubs and are learning about community service since they plan to hold a fundraiser for the Mineola Historical Society to show how appreciative they are of the help.

In addition, the children are learning how to research subjects using different methods as they broaden their learning experience to areas outside of the classroom. Superintendent of Schools for the Mineola School District Dr. Lorenzo Licopoli said projects such as these illustrate the total learning experience the district is trying to achieve for its students.

The class still has many questions such as whether there were farms in Mineola, what kind of stores there were, what kinds of jobs people had, what kinds of houses there were and what Jericho Turnpike looked like.

If you have any old photos or memories you would like to share, the class would love to see and hear them. They ask that you write them at the Jackson Avenue School, 300 Jackson Avenue, Mineola, NY 11501, Attn: Mrs. LoCascio's class.