Arts

This fall, gifted students in four Calhoun County schools will solve new puzzles. By following clues penned by Anniston author Alice G. Duckett, they will try to find the missing links in their chains of ancestry.

And, if all goes well, they'll learn not only to chart their family trees, they'll learn to climb them, gaining an overview from the top branches about who they are and where they came from. And Duckett's book makes it fun.

The deeper purpose, however, is to build stronger connections with their own families.

This is the theory of Duckett, a retired teacher, speaker and journalist who published "Digging From Attics To Basements" in 2006. The 56-page workbook encourages children and families to sit down together and discover their family history in an easy-to-follow format. It also contains a genealogy glossary and Web sites where a genealogy search can be started for participating students at Saks Elementary and Middle schools, Wellborn Elementary and Ohatchee Elementary.

"In today's mobile society, family history is a new subject to so many kids," Duckett said. "But in last summer's library reading program at the Carver branch, children from daycare programs to sixth grade were really curious, they were asking questions about their family history."

After Wanda Duckett (no relation to Alice Duckett), a teacher in the county's gifted program, met Alice at Jacksonville State University's annual writers' forum "On the Brink" last February, she decided to use the workbook in conjunction with "A Study of Roots," a unit that emphasizes genealogy along with other studies such as root words and roots in math.

"Alice's workbook is just what my students need to develop an interest in family history while using skills such as reading, writing, organizing information, and finally, presenting a speech on their findings," the teacher said.

But, if a student takes the project to heart, developing abilities such as research, photography and interviewing are required, she said.

Before Alice and Joe Duckett moved here in 2001, Alice taught in Albertville and Pensacola, Fla. When she touched on family history in classes, she hit upon a gold mine in capturing students' attention.

"It was a multicultural class in Florida because parents from Japan, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam came to work in Pensacola's port," Alice said. "They liked the subject, especially the unit on food from different countries as part of tradition."

In her experience, Alice added, students were interested in how their surname originated, their coats of arms (which they are asked to design, after finding the symbols, colors and shapes applicable to their family), and gravestone rubbings which turn up details like flowers, angels, borders, epitaphs and dates from the tombstones. Repeating family stories — such as dating, marriage, and the price of gasoline, then and now — proved to be both amazing and amusing.

"My grandmother was actually young then," was the declaration from a boy in Albertville as he started a traditional story in class, Alice recalls. "And how far back they can fill in their ancestry becomes a competition."

Alice's interest in family history goes back to sessions with her grandparents in Cartersville, Ga., on Sunday afternoons. A like occurrence proved to be a success with a Weaver family last summer when Myles A. and Sue Lane Perry held "Grandparents' Camp" for their grandchildren from Georgia, Birmingham and Weaver, using the workbook for an activity.

"It was perfect for us," said Sue Lane. "We are always looking for something to do with our grandchildren. The older children started filling it out at once and helping the younger ones. As they left, they asked 'Can we do this next time?'" The workbook has several notes on using the Internet to find military facts, which helped the Perrys, who are retired military.

The children are also enthralled with family artifacts. Alice recalls the pride in the voice of Clint, a fifth-grade student in the Albertville school, when he brought to class a Civil War sword with an ornate handle that passed down through generations.

"We had to get permission from the principal to let him bring in a weapon," Alice said with a smile. "They crowded to see it up close."

Wanda Duckett is excited about her students' potential responses. "I look forward to seeing their discoveries. Maybe we'll see even more family treasures," she said.

And with 140 students participating, who can say what sort of treasures — and treasured moments — will turn up.

Alice's workbook is available in the area at Anniston Museum of Natural History, the Berman Museum and GoodBook Parable Christian Book Store in Oxford. Her Web site is www.Shadowpurr-r-rPress.com.