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Sixth-graders display their global studies
By D.A. WILKINSON
COLUMBIANA
There’s nothing like pastries to help end a school year.
And pastries were just one part of a “Taste of Country Extravaganza.”
That’s country as in geographic area, not down on the farm.
About 200 people, including 96 sixth-grade students and their families, crowded the South Side Middle School for the event Tuesday.
Shirley Ferrand, a sixth-grade language-arts teacher, Vicki Garrett, a math teacher, and Jody Edwards, a science and social- science teacher, came up with the idea.
The effort was an “interdisciplinary cross- curricular unit studying countries of the world,” Ferrand said.
Students made large paper wheels that were hung on their chests. The wheels could be turned to the various information they had learned during their studies, such as the form of government and the country’s history.
Gannon Hartley wound up studying Brazil and noted some of its hardships.
Food-wise, she said, fried dough with cinnamon was a popular sweet in the country.
Gannon said that in the studies, “You got to experience yourself more.”
Megan Wright said she was born in China but wound up studying Japan. Its typical fare was sushi and noodles, she added.
Cheyenne Carr said she was interested in Brazil but wound up studying Finland.
“It was a country I knew nothing about, but I found it was interesting to learn about,” she said.
Bryan Pennell researched the United Kingdom and discovered what many may not know. “Big Ben isn’t a clock; it’s a bell.”
Blood pudding, a traditional British dish, is actually made with real blood, he discovered. That was one more reason to bring pastries. Bryan said if offered the pudding, he would say, “No, thanks.”