A trip conceived, planned, and executed by John and Sophia. John wanted the kids to learn everything that goes into running a restaurant, including the work of front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house staff. What a great idea!
Hanging out
Time for lunch! But first, they have to learn how to work like Dean Street staff… When your restaurant is staffed by eager fourth gradersTaking orders from their partnersIt was fun to use little server notepads and codesAnd learn how to set the table Learning how to use the register to put in an orderChicken and french friesDouble-checking an orderThey got to use the soda gun
Here comes the food!
How do you know which order is which?Check the check! This one’s for XavierThis is what happens when you have a 1:1 server:guest ratio Uh oh, serving mishap for CarmaDancing all the way to the tableThe lunch-time rush
A toast to John, Sophia, and the wonderful staff of Dean Street. Thank you for this wonderful learning experience!
On Friday, February 12th, 1663, the characters created by our class attended a meeting at the Stadhuis (Town Hall) of New Amsterdam. The subject of the meeting was none other than Petrus Stuyvesant himself, and the meeting was led by two representatives of the Dutch West India Company. Before being placed into our time machine, everyone had a chance to prepare notes with their thoughts about Stuyvesant’s leadership and changes that should still be made to New Amsterdam.
Here are the children of New Amsterdam, scribbling treatises for and against their Director-General. The Quakers were so passionate they wrote speeches during lunchtime!
Here are some images of the Town Hall as it unfolded…
James Angola lobs some harsh words at the Director-General
Margrit, a Quaker girl, came with plenty to say about the unjust treatment of her religion and gender.
“Stuyvesant shall be removed though he has cleaned the town he has done terrible things. I was put in stocks for lifting my skirts over a muddy street. Stocks, I say, for preventing discomfort. And I am not even aloud to practice my religion, and no, I am not going to the Dutch Reformed Church. I am my own priest and no one can stop me cause I’ll find God in the stocks. I’ll find god in prison. I’ll find god wherever you put me, wherever I go.” –Margrit, created by Burk
David Israel, who is Jewish, railed against Stuyvesant’s unjust lawsEvery child in attendance wanted a chance to speak!This Walloon child simply cannot contain himself
We were even presented a joint resolution written by Quaker and Walloon girls (Grace and Elisabeth, created by Clementine and Xeta, respectively!
Dear Dutch etc.
Girls should not be fined for lifting their dresses because they’ll ruin their dress and waste lots of wampum.
If your house was on fire you should not have to pay, because you’ll lose a bunch of your stuff including your house.
People are getting fined for passing speed limits, when there is a rush.
Using stocks, it’s a bad idea, because it’s hurting your own people, or village.
Grace and Elisabeth present a list of grievances to Stuyvesant, who is unmovedYet another Quaker has come prepared with a speech in his hands and the fire of righteousness in his heart
And, video of some heated moments (you must visit TroutTime site to watch the video).
Here is Askook, a Lenape boy, sharing his opinion of the Director-General
The passionate spirit of Amber, a Dutch child, cannot be constrained!
Earlier this year, we visited the Gowanus Canal with Barbara and thought about how it has changed over the last 400 years. The kids were sad about how dirty, polluted, and downtrodden our local waterway is. After a year of learning about water and environmental issues, they were ready to work on a small part of the solution!
Their year-end science projects are “floating islands” to help the Gowanus. At this year’s Ecorama celebration, our class presented their “floating island” prototypes.
These projects were inspired by a visit to look at Balmori Architect’s GrowOnUs island in the Gowanus (pictured above, and originally assumed by the kids to be a “trash island”).
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The Oyster Outhouse, a design by Sebastian and EzraEcorama Floating Island, by EvelynTHE LAST HOPE, by BurkePortable Forest, by Max
Thank you Emmy for the Ecorama pictures; thank you Barbara for teaching us science!
