Downstairs:
GWC Week

We had a blast at the creek last Friday! We have also been so excited by all the flower blossoms and spring growth that we continue to discover. This week, while the weather was cooler, we got to experience a different side of our outdoor classroom. Having used our space for awhile, we have started to adapt and rearrange to suit our needs and purposes. For example, after building a new Morning Meeting circle by The Burrow, we disassembled our previous tire circle around the fire pit to create a "tire snake" for climbing and balancing. Outside, The Burrow has become our "home base," a place we meet in the mornings, have Morning Meeting and Choice Time News, and eat Fruit Cafe. This week, choices included continued exploration of blooms, through crabapple still life painting, hammering leaves and petals, and our resurrected and outdoor-adapted flower shop. As you'll read below, these activities connected with our learnings about George Washington Carver, the focus of this week. In addition to being an agricultural scientist, Carver had many passions that included painting, music and singing, and using natural dyes. He was a curious child, inventive adult, and embodies many of the values that we here at Randolph hold close.

The big new this week was...cake! Last Friday, we were able to vote for our preferred cake flavor. We also took all the letters that each class returned to add up how many people we were serving, what flavors of cake we were making, and what allergens we needed to avoid. It was some big math work to read the numbers of each of the classroom's letters and then add them together. We realized our cakes had to serve at least 85 people! We landed on a chocolate cake and a vanilla cake with fresh strawberry filling, then we brainstormed what shape each cake should take. We decided to make a chocolate mushroom cake, with crushed Oreos for gills and dirt, with a few gummy worm inhabitants, along with a vanilla sun cake (in honor of the Randolph sun) covered with whipped cream. We couldn't wait to get started!

Each Fungi Friend got a chance to be part of making a cake batter, filling, or frosting. Since we had to make such big batches of batter, we were lucky enough to have some leftovers to make "testers" of the chocolate and vanilla cakes, so we had a sneak "taste." The children have had so much experience this school year with measuring, using specialized kitchen tools, and following recipes that they were basically able to run the show in the kitchen, with some help from a teacher to read the recipe and handle the hot pans. We even had friends watch the cakes as they cooked in the oven, commenting, "It's like we're at a show!" We were filled with pride on Friday as we presented the cakes to the entire school and shared our inspiration behind them. Scroll to the bottom of this page for a peek at the finished products :)

Then, on Friday we were able to celebrate the inspiration behind Cake Week and the new (hopefully annual) tradition of George Washington Carver Day: the scientist, artist, and all around experimenter George Washington Carver. Throughout the week, we read books and talked about Carver's life story, achievements, and research. Here are some key points of his life:

- Carver was born in Missouri around 1864 to enslaved parents
- Both of Carver's parents died when he was young and he was often sick
- His mother's enslaver Moses and his wife Sue took care of Carver
- Carver learned to read and write and practiced handicrafts since he wasn't strong enough to work on the farm
- Carver loved taking care of plants as a child and neighbors even called him "the plant doctor"
- Carver yearned to attend school, but the schools nearby were for white children only. Finally, when he was 8, Carver found a school he could attend.
- Carver loved to paint, sing, do handicrafts, and play instruments, but eventually decided to study agriculture
- In particular, Carver's research as a professor at the Tuskegee Institute focused on peanuts and sweet potatoes. He invented all sorts of uses and foods with this items (but not peanut butter). He also supported farmers' learning about soil amendments and crop rotation to improve harvests.
- Carver spent his whole life in service to others, particularly farmers, often turning down money and prestige to give his work away for free

As we read and learned about Carver, we used "me too" sign language to notice connections between our lives and his, like a shared love of nature or value of curiosity. The children seemed particularly moved by the fact that he wasn't allowed to go to school when he was young, based on the color of his skin and the laws at the time. We talked about how laws can be unfair and unkind and we can make change by fighting with our words. We also discussed where skin color comes from (the melanin in our bodies) and how skin color doesn't tell the full story of who we are. The children were also very impressed and inspired by how inventive Carver was!

In the kids' words, here's what they wanted to share about George Washington Carver with their families:
"He was a plant doctor."
"He take care of the planet. He take care of the plants - water and dirt and he researched them."
"He helped flowers grow, when he was young."
"He grew sweet potatoes and peanuts."
"He didn't go to school. The rules were people with light skin got to go to school."
"He liked painting and dyeing."
"We celebrate him because he loved the earth."
"If we had no earth, we would have no place to live."
"He isn't alive. We remember the things he did."