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PIONEER DAY

Dakota Connett practices the alphabet using a quill pen and ink on Pioneer Day.
Dakota Connett practices the alphabet using a quill pen and ink on Pioneer Day.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like being a pioneer child? The fourth grade students at St. Joseph – St. Elizabeth School experienced the “pioneer life” on Friday, April 22.

The students came to school dressed as pioneer children. When they entered their classroom, it had been turned into a one-room schoolhouse to make the day more authentic. Students wrote with quill pens and ink on homemade parchment paper. They practiced math facts on slateboards and had an old fashioned spelling bee.

The class visited five activity stations which included candlemaking, designing dream catchers, needlework, and quilling. Quilling is twisting thin, colorful strips of paper into designs, which are then used to decorate pictures. The pioneers also enjoyed walking on stilts, playing marbles, pick-up sticks, jacks and other old fashioned games.

The lunch menu included venison and beef jerky, hard boiled eggs, dried fruit and nuts. The children also ate a biscuit with cheese or apple butter and a snickerdoodle cookie for dessert.

The highlight of the day was when the children square danced. They also sang “On the Banks of the Wabash Far Away,” Indiana’s state song.

Not only did the children enjoy their day, but they also experienced life of Indiana pioneer children in the 1800s.

The Waynedale News Staff

Sarah Gigli and Elizabeth Maxson

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