By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
Posted May 8, 2003

ALTON - Fifth grade students learned about Iowa and had fun doing it. The Spalding Catholic students then created a quilt to display what they learned about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

"We always do Iowa history in fifth grade, and Lewis and Clark because it is the bicentennial was a big part of it," said Jean Schueder, the fifth grade teacher at Spalding. "They learned a lot about Lewis and Clark. This was like a culmination of that study."

The students were able to make the quilt with the help of their teacher. Guided artistically by the Spalding art teacher, Kim Presthus, they used oil pastels to create the blocks.

There are 16 students in the class and each decorated their own piece of the quilt to show what they learned about Lewis and Clark. The squares are 11 inches by 18 inches. The students followed the Lewis and Clark Expedition and created squares according to what those on the expedition saw as they traveled.

One of the squares portrays the trail made by Lewis and Clark on a map. Others show the Rocky Mountains, boats on the Missouri River, Seaman (the dog), Fort Clalsop (fort on the West Coast) and prairie dogs.

"The students actually did the tying," said Schueder. "They thought that was just more fun, up and down and under. It made them stop to think about how much work it was to create quilts because one of them looked at me and said, 'this is a lot of work.' I said but this is how they always used to get quilts for beds."

Putting the quilt together was a process. First the children created the squares. Then Schueder sewed them together with green strips as an accent. With the aid of Bertha Dystra, who helped the students tie the quilt and Theresa Goliber, who provided the quilt frame, the students were able to complete the quilt in a fairly short amount of time.

"It took one art class to create the squares and just one good morning to do the tying," said Schueder.

The children commented that it was fun, but lots of work to put the quilt together. Others added that they needed to work together to get the quilt done, and that this is a new way to show what they have learned.

As part of learning about Lewis and Clark, the students also took a trip to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City on April 9.

'I had a couple of people who suggested that because we were going on a field trip down there, that maybe they would like to see what we had done," Schueder said. "So we took it along."

While they were at the center, thev presented the quilt to the center.

"It was a complete surprise," said Marcia Poole, assistant Sioux City Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. "Their teacher had told me they were working on it and they wanted us to see it. They did such a beautiful job. This was quite a wonderful contribution to the interpretive center. It's fun to see the students' impressions of the expedition and how they express that in art form."

The quilt now hands in the Discovery Room at the center.

"It has a place of honor in the center," said Poole. "Since we put it up on display, hundreds of people have seen it and remarked about how beautifully it's done. The most important thing is that it really speaks to the mission of the interpretive center. This place was built for children and to spark lifelong interest in U.S. history and the role of the Sioux City area in U.S. history. It is very gratifying to see this level of interest in the students besides their skill with the quilt. They are quite talented."

Along with helping the students make the quilt, Schueder is preparing for retirement at the end of this school year. She has taught in Spalding Catholic Schools for 32 years.

'I enjoy the children immensely," said Schueder. "I enjoy the parental support. I think it has been good for me in terms of learning more about my faith and living faith because of what I see in the children.'

The quilt display should be at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center through the summer.

"We have wonderful teachers and this is an example of going beyond, probably way beyond, the call of duty," said Poole. "I'm sure this is something the students will remember all their lives."