Social studies teacher Sarah Moore said 28 children in years 7 and 8 made models of various gold-mining methods as part of a study on the subject.
Given the area’s rich gold-mining history, and that some of the children’s families had been in the area since gold-mining times, it was not surprising their work was so good their teachers decided it was worthy of a wider audience.
Their studies also included a visit to Gabriel’s Gully, near Lawrence, where New Zealand’s first gold rush began, as well as the nearby Tuapeka Goldfields Museum, in Lawrence, Mrs Moore said.
"They spent so much time [on the project] we had to do something with it."
Fortunately the Teviot District Museum, the former freemason’s headquarters Teviot Lodge, was across the road from the school, she said.
Fellow teachers Deborah Darling and Kylie Robb were on board and the pupils staged an exhibition demonstrating the area’s history.
The exhibition helped them learn about curating a collection, Mrs Moore said.
Staff from Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, in Dunedin, also came to speak.
The pupils were on hand to guide their many visitors around the displays last week.
