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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Going back in time
Mary Welsh students become pioneers
WILLIAMSBURG — Quill writing, St. Lucia buns and egg races marked the completion of the study of pioneer life for second graders at Mary Welsh Elementary in Williamsburg.
Students in four second grade classes rotated through four classrooms Friday for activities they’d only read about.
Teacher Sara Nickerson helped students make Christmas ornaments out of things that pioneer families would have, such as tin pie plates. Katie Rowe gave the students feathers and water-based paint so they could try writing with quills.
Katie Lacek showed the children how to make catch cups — a pioneer game in which a ball attached to a cup by a string must be swung and caught in the cup. Pencils served as the handles and egg carton sections as the cups.
A volunteer helped run pioneer games, such as the egg race, in which each child carries an egg in a spoon while walking quickly to the other side of the racecourse. In the Mary Welsh Elementary version, both spoon and egg were made of wood, eliminating the mess if an egg hit the floor.
In Shelly Meyer’s classroom, students shaped dough into letters to create St. Lucia buns they’d read about. “It’s in one of our books that we read about a [Swedish] girl,” Nickerson said.
“We have been reading a lot of pioneer books,” Nickerson said, including six from The American Girl book series about Kirsten, whose family arrives in the United States from Sweden and travels west through Chicago. The students learned and recited poems as Kirsten had to do in her one-room school house, Nickerson said.
Students were encouraged to dress as pioneers Friday, and several did. Ridley Sauser wore a neckerchief and suspenders. “My mom just picked it out,” he said.
Emerson Vonahsen borrowed her mother’s apron, and Diem Pratt and Evelyn also added aprons to their dresses to become pioneer girls. “This was from my costume from Halloween,” said Evelyn. She was Little Red Riding Hood in October.
Will Eckenrod said he enjoyed quill writing. The sound of the tip of the feather squeaking on the paper “sounds so satisfying,” he said.
Some of the paint mimicking writing ink stained the children’s fingers. “Painting is messy,” said Vonahsen. Rowe assured the students that the paint would wash off with soap and water.
“I think it’s kind of fun,” said Sauser.
Isla Danz enjoyed making the catch cups. “It’s different because you had to make it,” she said. She didn’t have to make the toys and games she has at home.
Greta Wood thought making a St. Lucia bun was nice, but she’s glad she’s not living in pioneer days. “They didn’t have very much stuff.”
