Let me set test prep aside to share some exciting news. The dugout canoe that my 10th graders have been working on all year is about to hit the water: we launch from the banks of Mount Vernon at 10 am on May 30. As well as being the centerpiece of our Humanities curriculum, loyal readers will recall that the canoe was a big part of Entry 4 in my portfolio. Most recently, I mentioned a spring break overnight where we cooked cobbler in dutch ovens on The Flaming Canoe as students scraped away with sharpened oyster shells (April 8,2007).
I only wish I could have somehow included in my final portfolio the very cool Fairfax County-produced news segment currently running on Red Apple TV, or the now nearly finished website that our students designed to document the process.
This summer, we look forward to displaying the canoe and the students’ work on the National Mall at the 41st Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, June 27-July 8, 2007. The cherry on top? A student-designed t-shirt is in the works, to be worn proudly on casual Fridays for years to come.