Ang's kids have been working on a very cool project for the last month or so. They've been planning and preparing for an Arabian Bazaar. They've been writing business plans, studying ancient mathematical lessons, writing research papers and finally, today, selling their "wares" at a bazaar. And I got invited.
After having taught in a middle school where field trip was a dirty term and where anything too outside the box was considered taboo, it was awesome to see what this team of teachers pulled off - together. They have almost 200 kids and they'd all planned their lessons together, coordinating them so that the kids could spend half of today having this great experience.
Each group was given a set amount of money and had to rent a stall at the bazaar (2 tables cost more so they had to decide how much space they really needed), pay for chairs, rent microwaves, etc. They also had to supply their own wares. There was a lot of diversity. I saw boxes of marbles, loved stuffed animals, lots of candy and pop, homemade cookies and brownies, store bought cupcakes, hand-rolled sushi. The first stall I stopped at was manned by Walter. I've heard stories about Walter and I was excited to see him again today. He offered me a free sample, because I'm a teacher (they don't quite get it that I'm not a teacher there at John Burroughs, probably because I'm around so much, and I have given up correcting them. There are worse names to be called!). He was pretty proud of his casserole dish filled with french fries and cut up hot dogs. I stabbed a fry and a hot dog piece and swallowed the lukewarm concoction and he smiled away.
I ate brownie bites and cookies and stuffed my pockets with gum and candy. I bartered a bag of cotton candy one child had given me for a bottle of water. I ate too many of these awesome mini-cupcakes by one child who's mom is a professional baker. I took pictures and complimented them on their menus and signs. I even had a smoothie with the secret ingredient of jolly ranchers (actually, not bad, very sweet but not bad). It was great to see kids be so inventive. They were popping corn right there, making deals on the spot (one Coke-$1, two Cokes-$2, what a deal!), blending smoothies, decorating cupcakes and trying to figure out if they had enough money for one more hot dog or one more cup of raman noodles.
At the end they had to settle up with their social studies teacher, making sure they could pay their rent. It was great to see them working with "money", being responsible, AND having fun all at the same time. So I say - AWESOME JOB JOHN BURROUGHS MAGNET TEACHERS! You rock! I hope these kids know how lucky they are to have you in their lives!!!
Quote of the Day
Girl - Who's older, you or Ms. Knapp?
Me - Me.
Girl - By how much.
Me - (Hold up 3 fingers.)
Girl - So you're 31.
Me - Yep.
Girl - You're three years older than my mom. But way younger than my grandma!
Fantastic!
2 comments:
Sounds like a great day, I hope you took advantage of that coke deal. Deals like that don't come around very often, especially in these hard economic times.
I feel you on the how old are you, you could be my mom comments. However, last year one of my 17 year old students told me her mom was younger than me...I was only 29 then!
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