The George Spangler Farm Becomes a Classroom for Local Students
May 13, 2021
Historic Gettysburg-Adams County (HGAC) hosted an educational event at the historic George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital, bringing together building trades students from Adams County Technical Institute and multimedia students from Gettysburg Area High School.
“This event was a great opportunity for the Gettysburg Foundation to partner with HGAC and their Investing-In-Youth Initiative,” said Spangler Farm Site Coordinator Paul Semanek. “The George Spangler Farm is not only an ideal location to learn about history, but also to learn and see traditional building techniques,” added Semanek.
During the event, Adams County Technical Institute students learned about the preservation process from HGAC barn preservation specialist David Mclay and Warehaus architectural practice lead Erin Himmelberger.
Warehaus had partnered with the Gettysburg Foundation in the award-winning preservation, restoration and rehabilitation efforts of the George Spangler barn, summer kitchen, smokehouse and farmhouse from 2010-2019.
While trades students learned preservation techniques and participated in some hands-on construction of a scaled-down barn structure, Gettysburg High School multimedia students filmed the process under the direction of instructor Kasey Smith. The footage collected during the event will be used as part of an upcoming three-part program.
With preservation and education at the heart of the Gettysburg Foundation’s mission, Semanek sees the opportunity for more community and student-based events at Spangler. “We’re already planning on future cooperative programs,” said Semanek.