Binghamton Students Explore Downtown

Fourth grade students in the Binghamton City School District are learning more about local history by hitting the streets.

The students participate in a historical walking adventure billed as "I Spy Downtown."

The tour starts and ends at the Phelps Mansion Museum on Court Street, just east of the Broome County Public Library.

Suzy Kitchen, a school district teacher and Challenge Enrichment specialist, says the students carry a "clue book" featuring a small close-up of a feature on a historical building. As they children move around the downtown streets, they work to locate the building.

Teachers serving a tour guides for each group of students provide historical facts as they encounter notable structures.

Speaking on WNBF Radio's Binghamton Now program, Kitchen said the tour makes use of information from the Preservation Association of the Southern Tier and an earlier Broome County "I Spy" program.

Kitchen said the students enjoy learning about the history of the buildings they pass on a regular basis when they travel around the city.

She said the program helps the children to find out about the people who made the city of Binghamton what it is today.