On February 2, the Stone Ridge kindergarteners sat in Good Hall and watched in awe as Upper School engineering students placed textbook after textbook on top of bridges they had designed using K’Nex.
It became so suspenseful that, at one point, kindergartener James yelled out, “I can’t watch!”
As the bridges came crashing down, the kindergarteners screamed out in shock and excitement while the Upper School girls smiled at the little kids’
reactions.
The engineering class, led by Ms. Joanna Caudle, science department chair, partnered with Mrs. Lesley Sheldon and Ms. Emily Stewart’s kindergarten class to work on bridge building. The kindergarten students, who had learned about bridges in class, watched the engineering students pile textbooks on top of their bridges and voted on which bridge they
thought would hold the most weight.
To no surprise, the kindergarteners seemed to favor the bridge called “Marshmallow,” even though it ended up holding the fewest textbooks.
During the next class period, the engineering students ventured down to the kindergarten classroom and assisted them in building their very own bridges.
Mrs. Sheldon said that Upper and Lower School collaboration is “a great example of living out Goal IV and coming together with a purpose to share
in learning and ideas and questioning.”
Emily Rosenkoetter ‘17 said her favorite part was “watching how enthusiastic the little kids were.” “I wish I had some of their enthusiasm,” Rosenkoetter said.
From field day to Feast Wishes, Upper School and Lower School students
have many opportunities for collaboration and mentoring because the two divisions share a campus.
Earlier this year, Ms. Barbara Beachler of the English Department organized a field trip in which the junior AP Art History students and 4th graders traveled to the Phillips Collection, a modern art museum in Washington, D.C. While at the museum, they viewed the Great Migra-
tion Series, something they had been studying together during the year.
Each junior was paired with a 4th grader for different activities at the museum, such as making collages or quilts or participating in gallery walks.
“I love seeing the 4th graders go up to their partners in the hall,” said Ms. Beachler. Sometimes,the juniors were even the quiet ones.”
Although it was a lot of work to organize, Ms. Beachler says it was one of her “favorite things [she] has done all year,” and she hopes to be able to
do it again in the future. She added that she was very impressed with how well the Upper and Lower School students worked together.
Upper and Lower Schoolers also collaborate through Read to Me Club; older students go to the SR preschool and read books to the younger kids for about an hour. Sometimes, the schedules do not match up, but both divisions work hard to schedule a time that works, even if it is just to play on the playground.
“The Upper Schoolers who go definitely get a lot out of the club,” says Katie Connell ‘17, who leads the club this year.
“The kids are always so happy and excited to see us, so it always brightens my day spending time with them,” Connell added. “It’s nice because if I’m having a particularly stressful day, the kids are so carefree and funny that it completely takes my mind off of everything and just allows me to relax and have fun with them.”