PCSST’s Engineers Visit the Thomas Edison National Historic Park
On March 19th and May 7th, PCSST’s eighth grade and high school engineering students respectively visited the Thomas Edison National Historic Park, in West Orange NJ.
The trip was spearheaded by Dr. Robert Kotlowitz, the Instructional Coach for the NJIT dual-enrollment program, and chaperoned by Ms. Alizah Memon, Mr. Daniel Rozel, and one of our students’ parents, Ms. Cruz.
The museum consisted of some surviving buildings from Edison’s original West Orange facility, and there was also a replica of Edison’s first movie production studio, the ‘Black Maria’. There, the students got to see some of America’s first-ever movies, also posing with the props and costumes that were on display for visitors. The students also got to enjoy some other interactive displays across the museum, and besides the costumes, the different musical instruments near the phonograph collection were another group favorite.
Dr. Kotlowitz shared extensive details about Edison’s life and inventions – including the famous lightbulb design that he perfected, the phonograph, and motion picture cameras. He even talked about Edison’s rivalry with Nikola Tesla. Many students did not know the extent of Edison’s work, and were very impressed hearing all about them and seeing some of them displayed in the museum. During Dr. Kotlowitz’s discussion, other tourists had also joined our group to learn more, and the students had meaningful exchanges with them as well.
Overall, the trip was well-received by the students and adults alike, and everyone got to learn a lot about the world-renowned scientist and inventor, who lived right here in New Jersey about a hundred years ago.
