By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON, Maine — Pre-kindergarten students at Houlton Elementary School got up close and personal with pumpkins Friday, Oct. 30 at the inaugural “Read and Learn Fall Festival.”
Held at the HES gymnasium and in various classrooms, the festival provided students with an opportunity to learn how pumpkins and various other gourds grow and also gave parents a chance to spend time with their children in the school setting.
“We decided to tie this project in with Halloween, instead of the usual parties, we thought this would be a good way to get the parents into the school with their children,” said Sarah Estabrook, a teacher in the Reading First program. “We have the kids learning, while at the same time having fun. We felt this was more purposeful.”
Parents were encouraged to attend the festival with their children. Four stations were set up to explore core elements of math, science, art, and health/nutrition. The math station featured working with shapes and designs to create jack-o-lantern faces. The science station featured looking inside pumpkins and reviewing a growth chart to learn how pumpkins grow. The art station featured students coloring pumpkins, while the health/nutrition station featured sampling pumpkin seeds and apple cider, while learning more about orange vegetables with Health Coordinator Lynn Brown.
The decision to study pumpkins stems from assistance the school received from the Adult Education program.
“We were working with the SAD 29/70 Adult Ed program and they had some grant money left over so they purchased books for us,” Estabrook said. “We decided on the book ‘Jack-o-lanterns’ with each student getting a hard-covered book to go home with them.” The event was the first of three Read and Learn festivals planned for the school year.
