Other games and activities included square dancing, led by Chasteen, rope making, tug of war, and gold panning. Costumes are mostly supplied by the school, but children can make their own. Johnson says that the event has been going on for about 18 years, and is part of the children’s’ social studies learning. “They look forward to this for weeks,” says Johnson. “It’s a tradition …it’s always on the day before the last day of school.” The event depends on parent participation, and Johnson says “they always come out for it!”
Tuesday, 10 June 2008 00:34
Frontier Town
If you happened to be at
the fairgrounds’ Frontier
Town last Thursday, you
might have felt like you’d been transported back to the 1850’s.
It was all smiles and laughs as kids donned bonnets, prairie skirts, and
old-style hats to participate in Plymouth Elementary’s annual Pioneer Day. The event, sponsored by teachers Gretchen
Johnson and Barbara Chasteen, is modeled after a similar event at Sutter’s Fort
in Sacramento.
At the Plymouth
event, 4th
& 5th graders learned what it was like back in the olden days by
participating in ten different old-time activities. Kids made wooden toolboxes,
learned to make butter and candles, and even had a watermelon seed
spitting contest.
