North Stratfield School honors Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday, 08 February 2012 23:26

Fourth graders at North Stratfield School will be immersed in the life and times of Abraham Lincoln for two weeks this year as they sing and play their way through history.

It's all about combining music, games and history, according to Patricia Kassay, the North Stratfield School teacher who applied for a grant from the Fairfield Foundation for Education to fund the project. Along with co-teacher Trisha McDonald, the pair have planned a two-week program where students will learn and participate in traditional mid 19th- century games including Peg Top, Whirli-Gig, Rolling Hoop, Quoits, Pick-Up Sticks, and Jacob's Ladder, and will learn to play the tin penny whistle in music class.

From Feb. 6 through Feb. 17, fourth grade students will attend four music classes and four physical education classes. Each class will begin with a brief history lesson on Abraham Lincoln and his place in American history, and then the music and games will begin.

Kassy became interested in the project after she was awarded a competitive fellowship to attend an intensive summer educational session on Abraham Lincoln by the Horace Mann/Abraham Lincoln Fellowship. "I can't tell you how excited I am to relive that experience," she said.

The Lincoln Days project is being funded by a grant from the Fairfield Foundation for Education, which provides grants to help teachers enrich and enhance the curriculum in the Fairfield public schools. Among projects funded by the FFE are an ipad project for autistic students, a salmon breeding environmental project as part of the science curriculum, a CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) type forensic science course taught at Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Warde high schools, and learning gardens planted at all of Fairfield's public elementary, middle and high schools.

The FFE is funded by private donations from citizens and other foundations.