Gilpin School’s Pioneer Day and World Market Day

Lisa Kunz

05/08/2008 - Pioneer Day and World Market Day came together last week on Wednesday, April 23. The halls were lined with the “Colorado in a Box” projects from the Gilpin County fourth grade students. Teachers were dressed in old time garb that resembled costumes from Little House on the Prairie. Volunteers were cooking an old-time country breakfast in the multi-purpose room and the fifth and sixth graders were single-mindedly preparing the tasty souvenirs to be given out to all the guests who would visit the World Market Day. And it was only 9 am!  

  For five years these programs have been an event that fourth, fifth and sixth grade students look forward to from the time the assignments are handed out soon after Winter Break. Mrs. Joyce Campbell, social studies teacher for all three upper grades in elementary school, assigns the students to do intensive research and then compile a report to be presented orally to the visitors of the programs. The assignment, for fifth and sixth grade students, also included the construction of a visual aid, usually in the form of an informative board or poster. Fourth graders had the assignment of making a representation of their report in a box. This year the students gave their presentations on their “Colorado in a Box” in the hallway outside the fourth grade classroom, while the fifth and sixth graders combined forces in the Multi Purpose Room.

Pioneer Day

  The day started with an old-fashioned breakfast consisting of sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs and flap jacks.  All of this was prepared by parent volunteers. The smells that filled the hallways of the Elementary School whet the appetites of the students and visitors about to visit World Market Day. After the old time breakfast, and a few square dances (learned in Mrs. Wyss’s music class), the students went into the hallway to present their projects.

  Later, on what was meant to be a representation of traveling west in an old wagon train, the students went outside and walked, pulling their covered wagons, gathering sticks that each held mileage value. After walking and walking, and gathering mileage sticks, the sticks were tallied. Not all of the pioneers made it all the way to Colorado. However, Mrs. Campbell did say “all of the pioneers made it out west.” The students had separated into “pioneer families” and as such, they learned that to make it all the way out west they needed to work as a real family, depending on each other and sharing responsibilities.

  During the big day, there were several locals who each added a real “pioneer touch” to the day. Giving the students an insider’s look at Central City, “The Richest Square Mile on Earth” was local historian Neal Standard, as Henry Teller. Buddy Schmalz was on hand to tell about Central City and gold mining. Mr. Schmalz is well versed on the subject as his grandparents settled here in the 1950s and owned what is now Dostal Alley but which was then a rock shop. Mr. Schmalz brought visual aids which afforded the students a chance to examine the ore and the gold that was once such a part of Gilpin’s economy. Musical entertainment for the day was presented by Ron Berg.

  The only thing missing from Pioneer Day was a campfire around which to sing but don’t tell Mrs. Campbell, she and Mrs., Manier just may think of a way to include it next year!

World Market Day

  If you closed your eyes and used only your olfactory sense, it would have been possible to determine which county or state you were visiting in the Multi-Purpose Room during World Market Day. From the state of Texas was chili. Salmon was the treat from Alaska and oranges from California. Chocolate and ice cream came from Switzerland.

  The fifth and sixth grade students from Mrs. Campbell’s social studies classes went to great lengths to not only inform the visitors about the ten countries and nineteen states they had researched, but they fed them souvenirs as well.

  As was assigned to the fourth graders for Pioneer Day, the fifth and sixth grade had researched their chosen locale and made a display. Holding these events simultaneously gave the visitors a chance to actually see how the students progress from fourth to sixth grade. While the assignments for all three grades are similar, the end product in the sixth grade showed a greater understanding of how the research can be displayed and used in many different ways. By sixth grade, the students’ boards were full of pieces of themselves and their personalities and as such it was a tribute to how each student had grown in self-confidence and showed pride in the knowledge they had gained and learned to share.

  The three events were well planned and took real team work for each to be such a success. Thanks to all of the volunteers, parents and teachers who took part in giving the students the support it takes to make this type of learning such a pleasure.