Saw blades were whistling as students in Betsy Cowherd’s fourth grade class got to work on a holiday project and they had some help from a few special visitors.
It’s become tradition that in the month of December a group of grandfathers head into the classroom to assist Cowherd’s students in creating a gift for their parents and it starts with measuring and cutting a piece of wood. The teacher asks for grandparent volunteers who are willing to come in and work with groups of students on the proper way to measure and cut wood, as well as sand and stain the boards.
“I think it's a great idea to show them how to use a square, how to sand properly, how to stain properly, it's a life skill and that’s what’s neat about the project,” said Mitch Hamann, a fourth grade grandparent and retired Coal City educator and administrator.
Hamann worked with a group that included his grandson, Adler. The two do a lot of activities together, but seeing his grandson in his school environment was something rather special.
“It’s an opportunity not a lot of people get, so you appreciate when you get those opportunities,” Hamann said.
The other grandfathers lending a hand were Robert Bianchetta, Mike Giard and Taras Lenczuk, who took on the name of Mr. T.
Lenczuk’s grandson is a student in the class and the youngster shared that having this opportunity will likely inspire the duo to complete more wood working projects in the future.
“Exciting,” is the word Lenczuk used to describe being able to come into the classroom and work with the students, and it's something he would do again if asked. The one highlight being the chance to spend time working alongside his grandson.
For the students it was great to have their grandparents join them at school, and it was even better when they were allowed to apply the stain to their wood projects, most agreeing that was the highlight of the project. The completed pieces will be going home to parents in time for holiday gift giving and it will be a special treat when they see the personalization that comes with the gift—a poem that the students have also entered into a contest.
The holiday activities in Cowherd's classroom will continue this week as the students create their very own gingerbread houses, another holiday tradition for Cowherd’s fourth graders.