The Tusculum Institute, a center for historic preservation at Sweet Briar College, hosted "Teaching with Historic Places" on Saturday, June 13. With an audience of K-12 teachers as well as curators and docents from historical societies and museums, the workshop taught some new ways to engage others with history.

A hands-on approach to interpreting historic architecture gave teachers some basic architectural information to help guide their students. In their first exercise, they left the classroom with instructions from presenter Charles White, associate professor at Boston University School of Education, to "observe what you see as if you had never been here before and didn't know where you are."

From observing whatever caught their attention first, from the handmade appearance of the brickwork to the columns, window styles and aged trees, the group learned how to interpret the value of the architecture around them.

"It is so nice to be a student for a day," a middle school teacher said. "We're learning how to pick up clues on what's around us, which is invaluable to inspiring the children."

A slide show, "The Power of Place," illustrated historic places from across the nation to demonstrate the relevance of historic places from different time periods and regions. A walking tour of Sweet Briar House and a slave cabin encouraged teachers to notice architectural details and derive hypotheses about the history of a house based on close observation of window ornamentation, building plans and decorative elements.

Besides White, speakers included Carol Shull, chief of the National Park Service's heritage education services; NPS historian Beth Boland; and Lynn Rainville, archaeologist and director of the Tusculum Institute.

"Teaching with Historic Places" was sponsored by the Tusculum Institute and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources with support from the National Park Service.

The Tusculum Institute, although not yet constructed of bricks and mortar, is drawing historic sustainability enthusiasts in droves. It will eventually be housed in the historic home Tusculum, birthplace of the mother of the founder of Sweet Briar College, when it is rebuilt on campus.

The Tusculum Institute is dedicated to preserving and studying the region's historic assets within a context of environmental stewardship.