The students at Washington District Elementary School are planting apple seedlings this week. The project began during National School Lunch Week October 15-19, 2012. The cooks, Annie Alborano and Donna Ours, educated the children that they were being served apples from West Virginia and encouraged them to save some seeds from the apples to plant. Annie and Donna then planted some of the seeds and nurtured them into healthy seedlings!
Now, as the end of the school year quickly approaches, the cooks and the students are planting the seedlings to watch them grow into trees that may someday produce our very own WV grown apples here at WDES! According to Mrs. Cynthia Nesselroade, Child Nutrition Director, the original apples came to us from Hampshire County and they were very nice apples! Now with a little luck and good weather, we could be growing those same apples here in Tallmansville. Mr. Brandon Kelley, the custodian, has agreed to be the guardian of the little seedlings over the summer and keep them watered. So it seems that, like a child, it takes a village to raise these little apple trees!!
Students at Washington District complete a series of activities which require brain power, imagination, and manual dexterity. All students rotated through the agricultural science lab participating in hands-on experiments related to food production. Haylee Rice and Sheldon Russell admire the chicken that lays eggs!
Multicultural activities culminated with an indepth study of an assigned continent. This was a project based learning activity with each of the seven classes concentrating on a particular continent. Students learned about the countries within their continent, the people, land area, foods, money, transportation, language, and customs. First grade students can teach us a great deal about South America. Students can spell Machu Picchu and Galapagos--and locate them on a map. Where are the Andes Mountains and the Amazon River? Ask a first grade student. Abby Kelley and Jake Tenney identify South America. Fifth graders made power points using countries in Asia and second grade celebrated America. Guess which continent they studied?
Mrs. Pettit, our technology guru, helps each class complete technology steps. Six, which increase in difficulty, are required yearly to teach children to function in an electronic age. Teachers taught four of these early in the year and saved two for the end of the year. Children learn safety practices and acceptable behavior for the internet.
Washington students are happy to be engaged in learning activities until the last day of school