Running head: Cultural Autobiography Project Part 2

Cultural Autobiography Project Part 2

Brianna Volz
Ivy Tech Community College

CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY PROJECT PART 2

InTASC Standards Rationale Page

Standard #1: Learner Development
The teacher understands how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning
and development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional,
and physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging
learning experiences.
Name of Artifact: Autobiography Project Part 2
Date: April 11, 2016
Course: EDUC 255
Brief Description:
This is the second part of my autobiography project. It is about my familys history to the
best ability that we all know. A highlight of this assignment was that I was able to learn more in
detail about my familys history.
Rationale:
To document my understanding of InTASC Standard 1, Learner Development, I have
selected my Autobiography Project Part 2 to represent it. I chose this assignment because it
helped me develop and grow in the knowledge of my familys history. I recognized certain
patterns of different areas that I thought are a good explanation of why I am a hard working hard
headed individual. It is just how I have grown up as well as my ancestors before me. I think
knowing WHO you are is a big importance of learner development.

I would like to first start off with my Grandparents history. My grandparents all play a
very important part in my life and mean a lot to me. I am very fortunate to still have them all

CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY PROJECT PART 2

here with me to today. Whether it be looking at old photo books trying to figure who is who or
going through treasured Knick Knacks from the past, I have always had a big interest in my
family background and where exactly I came from. I will start with my Dads side of the family
aka The Volzs. I enjoyed being able to take some time out of my crazy busy schedule to get to
know in a little deeper detail about each side of my family and spend some quality with my
grandparents.
My Dad, Brian, is the son of John and Theresa Volz. My Grandpa was one of five kids
and was born at the familys first home place in 1942. He was the second eldest to the family.
When he was only a few years old his family settled to a new home in the little area of Lookout
in the Batesville area. It was here that they spent many long hours faming just to make ends
meet and to take care of the familys needs. My Grandpa wasnt sure where exactly his family
descended from (most likely Germany), but he said his Mom (Annabelle) and his Dad (Paul)
both grew up in the Lookout area and that it was most likely that they met through the local
Catholic Church that they both attended each week. My Grandpa helped mostly with farm work
his whole life (even still to this day). He said that as a child he would start the milking at 5:30
A.M. Besides Sunday he said everyday was schoolwork and farm work. You pretty much just
did what had to be done to survive he told me.
My Grandma Theresas maiden name was Schutte. Her Parents were Harry and Mary
Schutte who were from the Batesville area. They met at a dance and were married at the aged of
21 and 27. Grandma would come along a little later in 1944 and was born at Margaret Mary
Community Hospital. She lived in an old farmhouse until she would be married to my Grandpa
on June 15, 1963. She said that she was raised up on the English language. Grandma was the
oldest girl of all her siblings; therefore she was just as much a mother hen as her mother. She

CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY PROJECT PART 2

learned to take care of her siblings/family at an early age. She told me, I remember going to the
grocery store and getting groceries and I couldnt even see over the cart. They were very poor
and lived off the land and ate the farm animals that they raised. She said that they would get to
bathe once a week and they had no running water and usually during the winter they had to
bundle up because the snow would go out. She spent a lot of her years helping take care of her
siblings, (it is something she and I share in common for being the eldest daughter). She went to
school up until her sophomore year and then dropped out to get a job to help provide for the
family at a local merchandise store. As time went along she and my Grandpa would eventually
be introduced to each other at a dance by one of my Grandmas thirteen siblings, Vic. In the last
53 years together, my grandparents have had 6 sons together. They have 22 grandchildren and 3
great grandsons. They are both now retired from driving a school bus for Jac-Cen-Del and spend
a lot of their time farming, riding horses, camping, etc.
My Mom, Eva (Simon Volz) is the daughter of Eugene and Patricia Simon. I will start with
information about my Grandpa Gene. He was the first one in his family to be born at a hospital.
He was born at Margaret Mary Community Hospital in Batesville on April 25, 1944. The home
place in which my Grandpa was born as is still in the family today. Grandpas parents were
Arthur and Eva Simon. They had 10 children (one of which was a stillborn). They were very
poor and like many others around that time lived a lot off the land. Grandpa got mostly hand me
downs from his older brother Art, and his pants would be too big so he used binder twine to
helped hold his pants up. That just shows how hard times were then and you did what you had to
do to get by. When my Grandpa was only fourteen years old his Dad had a severe heart attack.
Back in the day technology and healthcare were nowhere as advanced as it is today; therefore he
lived another seventeen years but was a very sick man. This being so, Grandpa being one of the

CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY PROJECT PART 2

older siblings had to pick up a job to help the family financially. He worked at the Jac-Cen-Del
High School as a janitor and took over the family farm as well. Later on he would claim the
family farm and the home place and meet my Grandma, Patty Schwering.
My Grandma Patty was born at Decatur County Memorial Hospital on June 22, 1947.
Her mother and father were David (Dave) and Elizabeth Schwering of Millhousen who hooked
up through a mutual family member. Her parents were both of German descent and remembers
them talking in German at times. Her mother often German foods like sauerkraut and potato
pancakes. Her great, great grandpa moved to Millhousen from Germany when he was only 6
weeks old. My Grandma was the youngest of 8 kids. She was 10 years younger than her next
youngest sister, so she there was quite an age gap there between her and her older siblings. She
said she spent a lot of time growing up with her nieces and nephews due to the big age difference
and becoming an Aunt at the age of five. They did a lot of canning and living off the land as
well. They believed a lot in hard work, honesty, and faith. My Grandma and Grandpa met each
other through their older siblings Charles and Lucille (who are 10 years older than they are) and
Grandma was also friends with my Grandpas sister, Linda. They will be celebrating their 50th
wedding anniversary on August 20. They are both retired now from working at Jac-Cen-Del and
Marathon gas truck. In the last 50 years together they have 2 sons and 2 daughters. They also
have 11 grandchildren. They spend a big part of their time in the church and attending their
grandkids school events, etc.
Lastly, my name is Brianna Louise Volz. I was born on October 20, 1994. I am the
oldest of 6 kids. My brother is Tanner (20) and my four sisters names are Mariah (16), Shaylee
(13), Sophia (6), and Makenna (4). My wonderful parents are Brian and Eva Volz. My Mom
and Dad married on August 7, 1993. They both attended Jac-Cen-Del, as did I. My Grandpa

CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY PROJECT PART 2

Simon hired my Dad as a farm hand when he was in high school and mom fell in love with him
the first time she met him. My dad worked on Volzs Hog Farm for several years and my mom
attended Mount Saint Joseph College in Cincinnati and has been an elementary teacher for the
past 20+ years. They eventually bought an old farm house before they were married and fixed it
up. It is there that they have settled with a small farm and a big family.