George Washington Carver Day
Friday April 4, 2025
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George Washington Carver Day
George Washington Carver Day
So much of our curriculum is based on the here and now: the sugar maple trees, our 3 Sisters Garden and the watersheds that surround us. Nature provides us with the perfect jumping off point to learn how humans have interacted with our land over time. With maple syrup we consider resources and commodities, our garden is a way to learn about Indigenous wisdom and the watersheds require that we explore conservation and activism.
Today, was an opportunity to open our curriculum and our minds as we honored the life and work of the American hero, George Washington Carver. A few years ago Tisha was learning more about the life of Carver. She was delighted to discover that in addition to being a scientist, inventor, teacher and activists he was also an artists, a weaver and a lover of nature, just like a Randolph kid! Kids today at Randolph School have opportunities to continue the work of Carver as they actively observe and wonder about the nature that surrounds them while building a lasting connection and relationship to the land.
Too often the contributions of Americans with marginalized identities are overlooked or omitted from our narratives and courses of study. We get to decide whose stories we tell and whose accomplishments we celebrate. It is our responsibility to ensure that the future is diverse, inclusive and equitable.
For our all-school choice time this morning the children made a garden out of recycled materials, used sweet potatoes to make art stamps, doctored and nurtured sick house plants, created an interactive food sculpture based on the folk song Aiken Drum, learned about soil health and vermiculture(thanks to dad Amakoe), used cardboard looms to weave, sipped teas made from local plants and tasted a variety of snacks the children made that utilized sweet potatoes, foraged garlic mustard and our very own chicken eggs. Nature can sustain us body, mind and soul. Thank you, Dr Carver!
Star Lab
Star Lab
The ceaseless rush of seasonal learning opportunities draws us outside during BEAM; from maple sugaring to counting the first spring ephemeral flowers emerging, from preparing for tree planting and prepping the gardens. This week, we made a little to go inside the Library and experience the wonders of our Milky Way galaxy and the cosmos beyond through the magic of Starlab, an inflatable planetarium borrowed from the Mid-Hudson Teachers Center at SUNY New Paltz. This beloved, awe-inspiring experience is a much awaited yearly tradition at Randolph. Before kids ever glimpse the stars being projected they have already had an invaluable opportunity to reflect upon and discuss their experiences of fear, nervousness, and anxiety and share with each other tips and strategies for successfully managing this feeling. To this end, groups helped Siobhan transform the library into a dark and cozy “cave” space in which to explore and unpack the many swirling emotions that can emerge as we gear up to crawl into a dark dome and into the night sky.
Gazing in awe at stars and constellations inevitably awakens in all the universal human impulse for story-telling and mythologizing. The projection drums that allow us to see constellations through the eyes of cultures around the world, from Native Americans to ancient Egyptians to China, offer a singular opportunity to contemplate the intriguing commonalities and differences in these diverse peoples’ relationships to the stars.
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