Students at Barnum Woods Elementary School in the East Meadow School District raised $1,530 for Island Harvest by creating arcade games out of cardboard and other recyclable materials. Parents were able to join the students in the school’s gymnasium to try out each student’s unique games! The event was inspired by Caine’s Arcade, a short film about a boy who created a movement by building an arcade in his father’s used auto parts shop in 2011.

Fourth grade students in Mary Vitale’s and Brittany Katz’s classes at Barnum Woods Elementary School recently constructed longhouse models, inspired by the homes of the Eastern Woodland Indians of New York. 

The students applied their learning of Native American anthropology and archaeology, which is a focus in the fourth grade social studies curriculum, to this hands-on lesson. Working together, they engineered, planned and designed the traditional homes. The culminating projects were a great success and allowed students to work collaboratively in teams while bringing “learning to life.” 

Kindergarten students at Barnum Woods Elementary School experienced a lesson in the arts on Dec. 13 as part of the East Meadow School District’s Enrichment Through the Arts, or ETA, program. 

Nina Moran, a teaching artist from the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, visited kindergartners in Sarah Brandwin’s ETA class as part of the Tilles Center School Partnership Program. The partnership between educators and artists uses art to foster critical thinking, literacy skills, creativity and problem-solving. The program includes in-school workshops in music, dance and drama.  Throughout the year, students visit the Tilles Center for three professional performances. 

During her visit, Ms. Moran taught the children how artists can be dancers, singers or actors. They also learned about fairy tales, villains and heroes. The visit was highly interactive, and students participated by showing off their acting skills through various exercises. The class concluded with a full rendition of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” in which Ms. Moran led the exuberant kindergartners in acting out the story in its entirety.

The district thanks the Tilles Center and Ms. Moran for their partnership in this creative and collaborative endeavor.