By Rama K. Ramaswamy
Schofield Elementary School’s Principal Gerardo J. Martinez, art teacher Christine Desrosiers and PTO-parent volunteers Kristen Toffer and Melissa Mack put together a “Day of Imagineering” in which the whole school - 366 students from grades K-5 - participated. According to Principal Martinez, “the purpose was to engage all students in being creators, inventors, flexible thinkers, problem solvers while manipulating a variety of recycled materials. This day tied in nicely with the district goal of having more opportunities for kids to engage in the 4C’s: communication, creative thinking, collaboration, critical problem solving.”
According to Toffer and Mack, “we worked with the Principal, as the PTO, to support this by gathering volunteers for each classroom to help the students cut and work through design problems, collecting tape donations, gathering extra supplies to help stock the four supply tables in the school that day and helped with clean up. We also helped promote the event. It was a huge success, we thought; the energy and creativity that the students had from the beginning of the day to the end was amazing. Students were able to work through their designs fairly independently from what I saw, with some adult help only when needed, coming up with solutions or new ideas as needed while they created their end products. The things that they imagined and built were fantastic.”
Desrosiers, the art teacher, helped Schofield students design a journal wherein they recorded their ideas. Art class was used for students to brainstorm and to decide on materials needed to complete their project. In addition to having the librarian gather books on inventors, Martinez said, “we had two assemblies (grades K-2 and 3-5) to watch Caine’s Arcade video and the Bates Day of Play video. This was to excite our kids and get them thinking. We asked teachers to read one of many books, including: ‘The Most Magnificent Thing’ by Ashley Spires, ‘Going Places’ by Peter Reynolds and ‘Not a Box’ by Antoinette Portis.” PTO and parent volunteers helped organize a packing tape curbside pick up date. They brought in additional materials and set up stations throughout the building with additional materials- pipe cleaners, aluminum foil, sticky tape, Popsicle sticks, fabric, etc.
When asked why Principal Martinez thought this is important, he said, “the school day is packed with lots of learning and students often crave more time to create and explore. The Day of Imagineering was designed to do just that. Inspired by the story of Cain’s Video Arcade and the work that the Bates school did to run a Magnificent Day of Play, we dubbed ours ‘The Day Of Imagineering.’”
Feedback from students included the following: “This was the best day ever!”
“I heard about kids getting up early saying they would not be late to school on this special day,” said Martinez. “Many wanted to give up recess and snack to continue building their structures.”
“It was great to see so many students fully engaged throughout the entire process - fully invested, flexible thinkers - and employing problem solving skills,” one faculty member said. “Great seeing those students with smiling faces and proud of their accomplishments today.”
Another member of the faculty added: “Watching the students collaborate and problem-solve was a highlight. It was amazing to see the students engaged and focused for the entire morning. From my observation, fewer students needed to take breaks and use the bathroom because they were so excited about creating their projects. The parent volunteers were extremely helpful and it was great to have the 8th grade helpers. Overall, it was a huge success!”
One parent remarked that the day represented “possibly my most gratifying and fun experiences as a volunteer so far at Schofield. I could not get over the creativity.”
“I loved it,” said yet another parent. “I thought that it was a creative, fun learning experience. I watched so many kids try an idea, fail and try again. They persevered until they created something of which they were proud. It was the growth mindset in action, which was incredible to see. One student told me that he was so proud of himself that he felt like crying. It was a great experience.”
“It was my daughter’s favorite day all year,” another added. “This gives the children the opportunity to realize their imagination and thinking through these types of projects.”
Principal Martinez said that he and the faculty were very happy to run their Day of Imagineering. “The faculty and parents,” he added, “would love to make this a tradition!”
