Police officer Kevin Kidd keeps count as Brayden D’Amico does push-ups at Island Treasures career day in Jay Juhnowski’s fifth-grade classroom Friday at Lawn School. The annual event invites adults to demonstrate their professions to students at the middle school. D’Amico did 60 push-ups. PHOTO BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN
For many students at Lawn School, Island Treasures is the biggest highlight on the calendar.
The annual event not only offers students an opportunity for experiential learning, but it also presents hands-on experiences right in the heart of the island.
“It is my favorite day of the year,” principal Nate Edmunds said.
“I would rather do this than Social Studies,” added seventh-grader Mason Mello, who attended a baking workshop with pastry chef Tami Denault.
That sentiment by Edmunds was echoed by Amanda Bridges, a seventh-grade math teacher, and volunteer Lisa Tuttle, both of whom coordinated the event.
Students at the middle school Friday participated in two workshops — one in the morning and another in the afternoon — with businesses and organizations that are “treasured” in Jamestown .
“It’s a really fun day,” said Tuttle, who has been involved with the event for more than a decade. “The kids love it. The staff love it. And the community really bands together. We almost never get no’s from people. Everyone’s really excited to share their time and talents with the kids”
Seventh-grader Matthew Goodburn blows glass at the studio of Jennifer and David Clancy on North Road next door to the windmill. The demonstration Friday was part of Lawn School’s annual spin on career day called Island Treasures. PHOTOS BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN
Among those who demonstrated songwriting skills in the band room were Rob Raymond and Drew Allsopp, who walked students through the process of building their own songs by having students write down ideas on sticky notes pinned to a white board.
“I do think middle school is the ideal age group because I think they’re still young enough that they wonder about things but also don’t know everything they’re interested in,” Tuttle said. “But they’re old enough that they can handle a day like this.”
There also were sports. Tabitha Ashton worked with students on tennis drills while explaining the basics of the game, including strokes, scoring and strategy. Tom McNiff and members of the University of Rhode Island’s women’s rugby team taught students the fast-paced game.
Lawn’s budding entrepreneurs worked with Annette Tonti, who was a regional finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2002.
Seventh-grader Gaby St. Hilaire uses a Halligan bar to smash a window on the Lawn campus. The fire department sponsored this workshop.
“It’s hardly ever a straight line,” she told the student about becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Another on-site workshop was led by officers from the police department, who discussed their equipment and jobs, with the highlight being the chance to ride around the campus in a cruiser. The officers also gave examples of the tough situations they deal with, including the unfortunate incidents when they had to euthanize suffering animals.
The fire department also was on campus to give students the opportunity to climb the aerial ladder and remove trapped people from vehicles.
The theatrically minded student got to test their improv skills with a workshop produced by Ricky Martin and Mary Wright of the Jamestown Community Theatre. With summer around the corner, students were also drawn to the biking and dry-land surfing run by Beth and Jason Hatch from Jamestown Outdoors.
Loren Braunohler introduced therapy dogs and the medically inclined teens worked with Dr. Kenneth Lynch to about bleeding after a trauma, resulting in a “Stop the Bleed” certificate.
“He’s liked the idea so much that he’s extended it into schools in Providence,” Bridges said.
Students also learned the art of pizza preparation from Joy Vieira at Ace’s Pizza and Andrea and Dori Colognese, the former owners of the Village Hearth, who showed kids how to make pizza with a backyard wood-fired oven.
Off campus and on the bay, students boarded the trawler Cap’n Bert with Boze Hancock and Suzy Ayvazian who worked with students on sorting the trawl net and identifying species. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management provided a grant for this exclusive opportunity.
“We wouldn’t be able to offer it if they didn’t come through on the grant every year,” Tuttle said.
“It is an incredible opportunity for our students,” added Edmunds.
The second sea activity was sponsored by the Conanicut Island Sailing Foundation and departed from Fort Getty, with students exploring the marine environment by sailing on Hobie Wave catamarans and investigating the marsh.
Bridges said sailing during school is one the activities students tell incoming military children about to excite them about Island Treasures.
“It’s just cute because they’re like, ‘Oh you get to eat stuff and you get to go sailing,’ ” she said.
Another off-site expedition included Atlantic Lawn and Garden, where students worked on plant identification.
For aspiring artists, students traveled to the Jamestown Art Center, where Kyle Canyon showed them assembly techniques to create fabric collages from recycled materials. Another group trekked to GT3 Creative and worked with Cary Siegler on the art of graphics and vinyl wrapping objects.
A third artistic expedition entailed working with David and Jennifer Clancy on the art of blowing glass at their studio on North Road where Edmunds joined his students.
“The bummer is that I blew the glass too hard and it exploded,” he said. “I was looking forward to having an ornament.”
Budding yogis voyaged to Island Heron to work with Cara Lieffers, where they practiced meditation, breathing techniques and yoga poses. Relaxation was needed after the long day.
“There are very few towns that could pull this off,” Tuttle said. “You need to have the community spirit. You have to be close-knit. You have to be small. We have two hundred kids and it’s a heavy lift. … You couldn’t have a thousand kids and do this. It’s something that’s really special and unique, I think, to our school system.”