Project Based Learning Electives provided by the Berrien Springs Virtual Academy
Archaeology Plus Fall 2025
All students must complete a project for these classes.
*Find this class listed under the Humanities or Vocational category during registration.
Instructors: Jan Sigvartsen PhD, Leanne Sigvartsen
Email: lsigvart@gmail.com
Phone: 269-363-3968
Ages: 8 and up
Location: various locations, see syllabus for details
Required Orientation: August 26th or 28th, 6pm-8pm
Day & Time: Fridays 1pm-3:30pm or, Sundays 1pm-3:30pm
Course Overview: In this program, you will be an important member of the Tarragindi Archaeological Team. You will learn valuable specialist skills in restoration and preservation by participating in a much-needed historic community project to restore the Long Lake Cemetery (3 miles from Downtown Berrien Springs). This cemetery is where many of Berrien County’s earliest pioneers are buried.
As you restore the cemetery, you will also learn about the early history of Berrien County and its fascinating pioneers and the lives they lived – possibly on the same land you are currently living on. Students will learn how to research their own home’s history, how to research their own ancestors, and pioneering life in Berrien Springs in the early 1800s. This project will also teach students how to obtain VA headstones or plaques for veterans, particularly Civil War veterans, who are buried in the Long Lake Cemetery. External funding is presently being sought to ensure every pioneering child buried in this cemetery has the dignity of a headstone, and students will be involved in researching the lives of these children and writing the new headstone script.
*Please note: it is important to make as informed a decision as possible when choosing your student's Community Resource classes. Most locations will allow a student to drop a class after one meeting, at no charge if it wasn't a good fit for the student, but not all. Some classes plan ahead based on the number that have signed up and have purchased materials, hired teachers, etc. and there might be a fee for class time or materials given to the student if the student drops after one or two meetings. The school cannot pay for classes that students do not complete, so choose wisely; if you do not take the class off of your student's schedule by the deadline, you may be asked to pay for the class time incurred prior to dropping the class.
Teacher of Record: Tom Hurst
