RMS TITANIC DOCKS AT FOUR OAKS The RMS Titanic will make Four Oaks Elementary School a port of call on Wednesday, March 24 when the fourth grade receives a visit from "Mr. Titanic". Dave Tuttle of Clayton will visit the fourth grade classes, bringing the students on board the magnificent White Star Line ship through artifacts, memorabilia, and a walk through life in 1912. The presentation will take place in the gymnasium/multi-purpose room. Tuttle, a former Johnston County School Board member, has presented Titanic to all grade levels in Johnston County Schools for over a decade. "I began studying Titanic more than four decades ago when I was in the third grade", he recalls. "The ship has held a lifelong fascination for me", he adds. Tuttle's schedule this year has been busier than most, due to this season's Titanic Artifact Exhibit at the NC Museum of Natural Science in Raleigh. The students at Four Oaks will also visit the exhibit in April, with "Mr. Titanic" as their personal tour guide. For most of the morning, the classes will relive life in 1912 through a combined history and social-studies lecture, with life aboard Titanic as the focal point. They will also have the opportunity to handle and examine White Star Line postcards, collectibles, and actual newspapers from the morning after the sinking. Besides the regular Q&A sessions, students will be able to have personal conversations with Mr. Titanic during lunch. Students will take a brief quiz after the session, and receive a personally signed certificate recognizing them as Titanic Scholars. For a number of years in our county's schools, our Third Grade has read the book "Titanic Lost and Found". In addition, our Seventh Grade has included Bob Ballard's "The Discovery of the Titanic" in their reading curriculum. Tuttle adds, "The last school year that was as busy as this one for me was just after the 1997 release of James Cameron's epic film. The artifact exhibit has had almost that great an effect." Students at Glendale-Kenly, McGee's Crossroads, and Riverwood have also hosted Tuttle in recent weeks, and have followed up with personally guided tours of the artifact exhibit. Tuttle observes, "I've had calls from as far away as Connecticut this year, requesting guided exhibit tours. In December, I had a group of Wesleyan College alumni ask me to take them through. Even nine decades after sinking, Titanic holds a fascination for many." In addition to school sessions, Mr. Titanic also provides sessions for public libraries, and senior centers. You can email him at mrtitanic @ mindspring.com, and find him almost daily in the online newsgroup alt.history.ocean-liners.titanic. Sessions for school children are at no cost. The Titanic artifact exhibit in Raleigh was extended from it's originally scheduled closing date of January 4th, and will be open until April 18th. This is three days after the anniversary of the sinking, which occurred on April 15th, 1912.
