Lewis&Clark re-enactment is big news

St. Louisans have important roles in the nation's bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery cross-country trip. And they are making it possible for you to follow all the action on your computer or those at school.

Three Wydown Middle School teachers have taken leaves of absence from teaching to be a part of this exciting 3-year project.

In fact, one teacher, Scott Mandrell, has the role of Merriwether Lewis during the cross-country re-enactment of the exploration trip.

The other two Clayton School District teachers on leave are Tim Gore and Jim Strum. Gore is coordinator of the Lewis and Clark Education Initiative. Strum is the technology coordinator for the re-enactment tour.

You can follow movements of the re-enactment party on the Education Initiative's website, at www.lewisandclark.net. Also, past programs will be archived on Apple Computer's educational resource site at www.ali.apple.com/lewisandclark.

(Young Saint Louis.com will be cooperating with the Lewis and Clark Education Initiative to provide local coverage. Also, you, in future months, will be able to link to the Initiative website through our Resources tab at the top of the YSL.com home page.)

Gore said the Initiative website will provide almost daily coverage of tour activities. While Mandrell is acting the part of Lewis, Strum will be recording the action. That will be posted almost immediately on the website.

The technology crew has wireless transmission equipment. That way, real-time reports can get on the website even from remote locations.

For instance, in July, Mandrell rode by horseback from Harper's Ferry, Va., to Pittsburgh, Pa. That was Lewis' mode of transportation when he traveled to pick up his river boat from a Pittsburgh boat-builder.

Another feature of the Initiative's website is a regularly updated calendar of coming events. The Lewis and Clark.net website will handle live broadcasts when available.

Also, another website feature will be a "then and now" diary. On one side of a split-screen will be daily entries from the original Lewis and Clark diary.

On the other side, Mandrell and others will post their own current-day diary. You'll read about what Lewis and Clark saw 200 years ago and what Mandrell is seeing now.

There's all sorts of neat information from people from Washington, D.C., to Oregon. That covers the whole distance of Lewis and Clark's original journey.

One fun item on the website are recounts of "tall tales from the frontier." They are written Oregon writer Tom Laidlaw.

Of course, there are plenty of pictures from all over the country.

Another feature of the Education Initiative will be video conference lessons beamed into schools across the country. The first one in the 2003-2004 school year will be on Sept. 11 when there is a lesson on what Lewis and Clark did to prepare for their trip.

Later on in the fall, there will be a video conference from Cairo, Ill. That's where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers join. The Lewis and Clark expedition came down the Ohio and then up the Mississippi to get to St. Louis.

The Cairo program will focus on how Lewis and Clark planned to keep track of where they were. Once they started on the Missouri River at St. Louis they would be in unmapped territory.

It was at Cairo when Lewis and Clark tried out their sextant. That's an early navigation device most often used on uncharted oceans. In 1804, Lewis and Clark would be close to land but still might not know exactly where they were.

Another feature of Lewis and Clark coverage will be opportunities for kids to talk to other kids across the country. Kids will be able to exchange information via video conferencing.

One of the amazing things about the Lewis and Clark trip to and from the Pacific Ocean was how few casualties there were. There was only one death among a party that included up to 45 people at times. The only death was of a Sgt. Floyd, who died of an appendicitis.

And that covered a 3-year period in some of the remotest parts of the country.

Initiative workers encourage kids to become involved in re-enactment activities.

Gore urged kids to encourage their teachers to sign up for video conferences. That can be done by e-mailing Gore at lewisandclark@clayton.k12.mo.us. Or your teacher can print out and complete an Indication of Interest form from www.lewisandclark.net website.

And, you can watch further editions of Young Saint Louis.com for further stories.