In the quilting project, younger students became familiar with the art of patchwork and hand-quilting. They learned to thread a needle and how to hand-sew a basic running stitch, practiced techniques and skills for hand-sewing two pieces of fabric together accurately, practiced quilt stitches and shared design ideas and materials along the way. They made a patchwork pincushion and a 9-patch block.
Kids met with a naturalist at Crab Cove in Alameda who gave them a tour of the visitor’s center and talked to them about the surrounding garden, native plants and local ecology. They helped pull weeds, spread mulch, clean up and beautify the garden. Afterwards, they enjoyed a potluck picnic on the beach.
Members in this project learned how to responsibly care for chicks. They raised them for 8 weeks and then donated them to SoMar Farms.
Participants were made familiar with basic First Aid, including planning and creating a first aid kit, recognizing and treating some injuries, and learning the steps to take when faced with an emergency. Kids did needs assessments, learned first aid skills to treat cuts, scrapes, minor burns, nosebleeds, insect and snakebites, and how to respond to someone who is choking, unconscious or has a broken bone. Kids also learned basic wilderness safety and first aid from wilderness leaders during which they hiked into a local park. They visited Oakland Fire Station #8, getting extensive information from firefighters about fire safety, prevention and burn care. Most importantly, kids learned when and how to call for help!
Under the aegis of the Donkey Toes Publishing House, students created and published their own books: IMAGINE IT, WRITE IT, ILLUSTRATE IT, and PUBLISH IT. The idea was to understand what it takes to bring a book from the initial idea to the final execution and how all components fit together to achieve the final goal. It was an exercise in project management, with a multitude of tasks and roles for participants and a strong creative element. The main focus was on developing the skills to create a story from start to finish and learning to support it with illustrations.
In this project, members learned about different types of frogs, frog anatomy and how to care for them. They raised 2 White’s Tree Frogs and named them Kiwi and Lime. Unfortunately, one of the frogs developed a prolapse and had to be euthanized. The other frog now lives in the middle school science teacher’s classroom at EBI.