In what can only be considered a full-circle, history-filled learning day, 180 fourth- and fifth-grade students from two Reynolds elementary schools came together on the grounds where the schools’ namesakes began their legacy. 

Hardin William Reynolds and Nancy Jane Cox (Reynolds) - who built the brick home at Rock Spring Plantation in Critz, now known as the Reynolds Homestead - valued formal learning and ensured that their children had the best educations possible. All eight of their adult children, including two daughters, attended college.

To honor their parents’ passion for education, Hardin and Nancy’s children provided funding to build two schools: Hardin Reynolds Memorial School near the Reynolds Homestead and Nancy Reynolds Elementary School in Westfield, North Carolina, on land where Nancy Jane Cox was born and raised.

The fourth- and fifth-grade classes from Nancy Reynolds Elementary School spent several hours at the homestead, moving through three stations – a scavenger hunt centered on the recently installed Rock Spring Art Show, a tour of the historic home and surrounding buildings, and teambuilding activities on the lawn. 

At lunchtime, Hardin Reynolds Memorial School students joined Nancy Reynolds Elementary School students for a meet-and-greet lunch on the lawn, followed by teambuilding activities, including introductions to pen-pals for the year.

- Written by Kristin Hylton and Julie Walters Steele

Photos by Kristin Hylton

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