School Projects

Start-Your-Own-School Project

Discuss with your classmates the things you would need to decide and have to do, if you wanted to start your own school. Would deciding the age and sex of your students be one of your first decisions?

Design-a-School Project

• What will the building for your new school look like, inside and out?
• Design its exterior and floor plan.
• What materials would you use?
• How would your school be different from Mary Lyon's?
• If you could re-design your own school, what would you change?
• Imagine you are a student, in 1837, at Mount Holyoke Seminary. Write a letter home or to a friend describing your experiences at your new school.
• Imagine you are a young woman who wants to go to college in 1837. What would you say to your parents to convince them that higher education for women is a good idea?
• Locate on a map the town where Mary Lyon was born, and the towns where she studied, taught, and consulted with other educators.
• Pretend you are Mary Lyon raising money for the founding of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. You are meeting with a prominent man in Boston who needs convincing that higher education for women is a worthy cause. What would you say to persuade him to donate money to Mount Holyoke?
• Mary Lyon has put you in charge of recruiting new students. Design an advertising poster that will attract the attention of young women and convince them to apply to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary.