Bringing history to life is what Saundra Wimberley does best. The 1981 Frenship graduate was first introduced to the Ranching Heritage Center by her history teacher, John Franklin. She has continued the legacy of sparking curiosity in learning through our local history found at the Ranching Heritage Center.  

Wimberley works closely with her students preparing them to reenact scenes from one of the most popular stops at the Ranching Heritage Center, the Barfield School House. The 1890 one-room schoolhouse is where learning comes to life. Students have the opportunity to dive deeper into history lessons about the first settlers to West Texas and their hardships and triumphs. 

“It’s valuable because they experience what it was like to be one of our local ancestors,” said Saundra Wimberley. “They also appreciate what conveniences we have today as they marvel at using the artifacts from the museum trunk (iron, kitchen tools, simple school books, very simple toys, etc.). After all of this, they appreciate our current nice school rooms, tables and chairs, and lots of books, not to mention heating!” 

Wimberley has had anywhere from 12 to 20 students participate each year. Older siblings of current students and even former students join in on the fun as well.  

“I’ve found that my students have a much richer understanding of their own place in history and appreciate local history so much more after participating,” said Wimberley. “They also begin to have a better grasp of time.” 

Behind the scenes leading up to the Candlelight event, Wimberley starts by teaching the entire first grade at Crestview about pioneer life.  

“I teach the entire first grade about pioneer life by using the NRHC’s traveling trunk full of pioneer life items. I helped create, restock, and write lesson plans for this trunk at the NRHC in the summers, but I also enjoy using it in the classroom,” said Wimberley.  

The tradition of bringing the Barfield Schoolhouse to life is a memory that students carry with them for years to come.  

“What keeps me coming back is that my kids remember doing this for decades to come. They come back to me in college and their 20’s and say, “I don’t remember a lot about first grade, but I DO remember being a pioneer kid in the one-room schoolhouse with you!” Children come back after Candlelight, able to talk about their experience and still remember the details all school year,” said Wimberley.  

One of Wimberley’s favorite parts of participating in the Candlelight Event is the children’s responses to everything. There are many gasps of awe, squeals of glee, giggling when remembering to talk like an 1893 child, and watching the students jump at the opportunities to perform and lead.  

“I love that the families are so enthusiastic about the event because they know how enriching it is for their own children’s understanding and appreciation of history,” said Wimberley. “I also love some of the bloopers that happen each year that make the whole group laugh. Examples: 

• Discussing the language while singing “Jingle Bells” second verse, “Her horse was LEAN and lank” I was trying to explain that the horse was probably old, thin, and not strong anymore. I asked if they knew what lean would mean. The whole group just LEANED over! 
• Discussing all of the funny presents given during the “12 Days of Christmas” some of my boys suddenly had some deep thoughts. One said, “I’d never give a girl all those birds!” The other said, “I’d give my mom the gold rings, and then just go home.” 
• In a past year, we finished up an old Christmas song that ended with “And God bless you” and someone immediately sneezed really big. Then the whole place erupted with laughter. 

This year the Ranching Heritage had nearly 8,000 community members visit the 45th annual Candlelight. Wimberley encourages everyone to take advantage of the opportunities to learn about history. 

“Our community has grown immensely with museums in the last 30 years. They are thorough, visitor friendly, dedicated to local and world history, and worthy of your time to go museum visiting! Don’t miss the NRHC, the FiberMax Center (ag history), Windmill Museum, and others. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful museums,” said Wimberley. 

Another piece of advice Wimberley wants to encourage educators with is to go beyond the classroom in teaching students.  

“Teachers, don’t underestimate the tie to a museum and how it can enrich your classroom experiences,” said Wimberley. “Museum personnel love helping us make learning fuller!” 

Frenship is thankful for the commitment of excellence Wimberley has created to provide a premiere experience of learning for students.