Friday, April 25, 2013

Dear Cook/Lowery Parents,

The 5/6 launched our new Engage project last week: Wikiseats. Every student will be provided with a Catalyst (the structural support for a chair), with the goal of building a functional seat. We will be able to provide basic materials for these seats but the students will be tasked with finding materials that make their seats unique and creative. Materials should as far as possible be easily available, recycled and appropriate. You can visit our Wikiseat page on the Cook/Lowery12 wiki.

The intention is for the students to collaborate with their teams to solve this challenging problem of designing and building a seat. Problems are great. They put us in uncomfortable places in our heads and hearts. They frustrate us and gnaw away at us. If we want our students to be ingenius, to be engaged, to be creative, we need to embrace the idea that the tension created by a problem fosters the kinds of growth we really need our kids to experience in our classrooms.

We would welcome parent volunteers to assist us in the classroom and help the children work through any problems they encounter building their seats. If you have a basic tool kit, a power drill or impact driver (with a T15 & Phillips head bit) and time to spare then we would love to have you join us! Our classes will be working on the Wikiseat project:

  • Thurs., May 2
  • Thurs., May 9
  • Tues., May 14
  • Mon., May 20

Cook homeroom meets from 12:55- 2:00 p.m. and Lowery homeroom meets from 2:05-3:10 p.m. Please email me () and let me know if you are interested in coming in to help out.

We would like to conclude this project with a final gallery tour of the seats and an auction to give students and parents the opportunity to buy them. Funds raised will be used to replace the materials. We will be sending more details about this later in the project, but we are looking forward to celebrating the students’ success with a fun filled event in May.

Sincerely,

Vicki Lowery and the 5/6 team

Final Wikiseat projects are due on Thursday, May 23.