This picture is a view of Medina Public Square from in front of the Gazebo.
In second grade, our class spent the weeks in December leading up to Christmas vacation collecting empty, clean, rectangular, one-liter cardboard milk cartons. We cut the tops of the containers off, washed them out with soap and hot water, so all that was left was a clean, thin, cardboard rectangle, free from the stench of old, rotten milk. Each student in my class was given one empty milk carton, and assigned a specific building in the Square to design a miniature version of with the rectangular carton using glue, markers, glitter, and construction paper. I cannot remember the building I had to recreate, but I know my brother took a lot of pleasure in recreating the Whitey’s Army and Navy store. I think all the boys in the class wanted to design the milk carton version of the Whitey’s Army and Navy store, in the same way that all the girls argued over who got to pretend to be Princess Leia when we played “Star Wars” on the jungle gym during recess.
Once the miniature stores, restaurants, bank, and fire station were complete, the class lined the boxes into a square in a clearing in our second grade classroom, framing a mini white Gazebo that our second grade teacher purchased at a Medina gift shop and reused every year for this special project. We designed mini-sidewalks and streets with gray and black construction paper and ultimately recreated the Medina Public Square in our classroom. Since we were kids, we rejoiced, because this version of the Square in our classroom felt like it was just our size. Though we were not allowed to do this, the tiny Medina Square probably would have made a wonderful play space for our Barbie dolls, G.I. Joe figures, or My Pretty Ponies. The real life Medina Public Square, however, was for our parents. This concept was similar at the time to regular television, like NBC, being for adults, and Nickelodeon, the kids’ cable channel, being just for us. In our second grade world, our own miniature Medina Public Square was as great as the green slime that poured down on contestants from the heavens for answering a question incorrectly on the popular Nick game show, Double Dare.
This process of building a milk carton Square not only taught us about the history of our home, but instilled in us a sense of ownership and pride in Medina, Ohio. This project was an educational homage to our beloved hometown.
