VENTURA : Mound School Students’ Missions Are Accomplished

When fourth-grader Michael Elliot brought his replica of Ventura’s mission to school, it took two men to haul it into the classroom.

Michael’s class at Mound School in Ventura had spent six weeks learning about California’s colonial period, and teacher Virginia Barrison asked the children to prepare a project on the era.

“The only requirement was that it fit through the door,” Barrison said.

Michael’s barely made it. The wood and plaster model weighed between 100 and 200 pounds, according to the 10-year-old. It measured about 3 feet by 4 feet.

“It’s probably more solid than a house,” Barrison said.

After taking photos of the real San Buenaventura Mission, Michael spent two weeks building the model. With some help from his father, Doug, he built a wood frame, plastered it, then covered it with three coats of paint.

The mission was founded in 1782, and his replica reflects how it looked in colonial times with a cemetery full of white crosses in the yard. He even landscaped the model with plants.

Many of the children in Barrison’s class chose to build models of missions here and elsewhere in California, but some took a different approach. One girl crafted a quilt depicting one of the missions. Another child videotaped himself giving a “newscast” about the colonial days. Five prepared edible versions.

“After their presentation, we ate them,” Barrison said.

The children provided a mix of answers when asked what they learned from the history unit-- everything from the mistreatment of the Chumash Indians to the earthquakes that California’s missions survived.

But Annie Ludes cut through the historical stuff. “They didn’t have TV,” she said.