Links to Living & Learning

Friday, April 21st was our first celebration of George Washington Carver Day, a Randolph-invented holiday to celebrate an agricultural scientist, artist, and inventor who espoused many of the values that we strive to embody at our school. Tisha, our Community Steward/Office Manager and parent to Riley, first proposed the idea of a GWC day because of all the similarities she noted between his interests and our own work here at school. In order to deepen our own knowledge of Carver, the teachers and staff immediately began to research his life and his work. What emerged was a portrait of a person who we would describe as “Randolphian,” if our school ethos could also be an adjective. Carver’s childhood was spent both freely in nature and his garden as well as working with handicrafts and artistic pursuits, due to his early life circumstances of poor health and inability to work in the fields as his enslaved and deceased parents had. After fighting to attend school, Carver went on to college and became a professor, studying plants, in particular helping farmers with crop rotation and improving yields as well as inventing new uses for different plants. He continued to maintain many of his other passions as well, including painting and crocheting. While sharing the story of Carver’s life with our students, we as teachers balanced the important historical context of enslavement, injustice, and inequity with Carver’s curiosity, passionate drive, and joy of his achievements. Non-fiction media about formerly enslaved people often focuses on history, race, and struggle, which is incredibly important for children to understand. It is equally important that children also see people of color in ways that mirror their own lives and center wonder and joy.

In addition to our ongoing curricular work, we want to highlight the historical link between outdoor spaces and the lack of diversity and inclusion, particularly in regards to race. Research shows that people of color are less likely to engage in nature-based outdoor activities, with some of the main reasons being historical discrimination and lack of access to nature. In addition, lack of diversity in the outdoors does not equal a lack of interest, and many groups are working to break down stereotypes of people of color in the outdoors. As an outdoor-focused school with a commitment to anti-bias education, we have an imperative to draw meaningful and explicit connections between children’s lives and the world around them, which includes linking events and people from history to the present to our current lives.

Overheard:
"It's kind of juicy. It's kind of rough and soft." (tulip)
"It's the nectarine and the petals are still wet." (daffodil)
"This is the roots of the garlic mustard and it's an invasive species. If you don't take the roots out, it will still grow."
"Why are they so tiny?" (garlic mustard flowers)
"Like a radish root, it's purple! It looks like broccoli." (garlic mustard)
"There's a lot of goo in there." (grape hyacinth)
"A bunch of slimy in the stem. It's bubbling!" (daffodil)
"There's already fuzz inside of it. The seeds are in it, just still growing." (dandelion)

Pulling the thread, literally and figuratively, of GWC as a fiber artist:

In the days approaching our George Washington Carver Day celebration children explored his life as an incredibly talented fiber artist. Children and teachers alike learned that Carver was born into enslavement on a farm, but was too sickly as a child to work in the fields. Thus he was able to spend time learning the less physically demanding skills used in the fiber arts. We were particularly interested in learning about how Carver used natural dyes like dandelions, black walnuts, and clay to change the color of yarn and fabric, just like we do at Randolph! Inspired by him, we collected dandelion flowers and created a dye bath we plan on using to dye yarn in the days to come. We marveled at images of his impressive crochet work and prepared materials (rolling balls of yarn, gathering crochet hooks and looking up crochet tutorials) to try out a new fiber arts skill we hadn’t done before.  On Friday we practiced making slip knots, chain stitches, and single crochet stitches. We delighted in noticing that a chain stitch is just like finger knitting with one finger! Many children picked it up pretty quickly. Making that connection between finger knitting and crochet, older children also taught younger children how to finger knit. New passions have emerged and old passions have been fortified by pulling on this thread of Carver as a finger artist!

George Washington Carver knew that plants and humans are meant to be in relationship with one another. By learning what different plants need to thrive, taking care of his garden, and sharing his knowledge of  how soil health impacts plant growth, Carver exemplified what it means to be in  a compassionate relationship with the natural world. He also knew that this relationship could be reciprocal.

In the Tea Blending activity, students engaged with  some of the ways that plants can take care of humans. First, kids used their senses to explore different plants, sharing what they tasted, smelled, saw, and felt with each other.  Then, we identified the herbs as Lemon Balm, Oat Straw, Rose, Dandelion, Chamomile and Nettles. 

One of the best ways to get to know plants are by spending time with them! Kids chose herbs that they liked the taste of and made a blend to take home. One day we will tell students what each of these plants can do to our bodies. In the meantime, they can experience it themselves.

As we were setting up for the event, we  even found some of these plants growing around us! Kids practiced abiding by the tenants of the honorable harvest, only taking what we planned to use and leaving enough for the plant and other creatures.