April 27th, 2021

As we are approaching the end of the school year (wait, already?!) we are reflecting on our time in the Brown Room and the people in the school who supported us and St. John's so tireless throughout the year. Two of those people are Victor and his mother Lucilla. Lucilla has been an important part of the St. John's community for many years and unfortunately we have not yet had the chance to meet her. But the children in the Brown Room have developed a wonderful connection with Victor, who is the school's handyman, problem-solver, engineer, and so much more. Whenever the children noticed something in the school that would require Victor's attention and skills, we wrote a message or note about it to him. 

They fix things when they are broken. - Finlay
When the water from the sink was too cold. - Hugh
And he even he fixed the potty! - Remy

As a way of showing our appreciation for Victor and Lucilla we are creating a plate made out of clay for each of them. As you might have seen on the blog before, lately the children are showing great interest in baking and creating food for one another in the outdoor classroom. We want to expand on their interest and would like to bake a little something together at school for Victor and Lucilla, once their plates are ready.
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They both have curly hair - observation made by Lily about Victor and Lucilla

I have to push really hard to make a stamp. - Hugh

On clay slabs, Remy and Hugh, used a variety of impression tools to decorate the surface. They then traced the edge of a plate with a needle tool to cut out the shape for the plates. We compared the flat circle of clay to the shape of the plate and noticed: 

​It goes up! - Hugh 
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We then used the plate as a mold for the clay to be shaped on to to create a rim on the plates.

While working on the plates we started a conversation about baking. What do you bake at home? 

Remy:
pancakes, oatmeal, chicken and fries, cookies 

Hugh:
Cookies for Christmas, I make Christmas cookies! Cookies and frosting. 
Oh, I made banana bread with daddy. Bananas and a slice of bread!
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We have not yet made a decision about what we will bake for Victor and Lucilla but will continue our conversations about it in the future.

​Our next step in the process will be to decorate the plates further by using underglazes once the plates are leather hard to bone dry. But what colors should we use? What are Victor's and Lucilla's favorite colors? Since Victor comes to school in the late afternoon, after we have all gone home, we decided to write, or better, paint a message for him. 

We can put colors on here (the message) so they can choose their color. - Hugh

To create colors for our message, we used a special kind of paper, called Paper Palette, which is a poly-coated paper that can be primarily used to mix paints together. Since one side is coated, the paint won't dry and is not absorbed as quickly, in comparison to regular copy paper. 
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The back feels like normal paper. - Remy


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What colors can we mix using only the primary colors, RED, BLUE, and YELLOW and white ?
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Look! I made green. Guess how I made it. I used yellow and blue.

(adding red to her green)
Green and red make brown! - Lily

I think you made magenta or something. - Hugh, about the color Lily created on her paper (photo on the left)

Kind of dark pink. - Lily

I used blue and red and white. That makes purple. - Lily, explaining to Hugh how she created her color.

​ Hugh then added red to a "beautiful light blue" he had previously created, using white and blue (photo on the right).

Daniel used blue, yellow and white to create the color on the bottom in the photo on the left. He then created another color (on the top) using only blue and yellow. He observed:

Oh, when I use only two colors (not white) it makes more green. - Daniel

Daniel's final color. He used his hands to mix yellow and blue.

Finlay used a variety of techniques to mix colors together, e.g. dripping or spattering paint off the brush (see video below), dipping the same brush into different paint jars to "create a rainbow" on the brush before adding it to the paper,  or using different paint brushes to add colors like blue, red, yellow, and white individually before combining them on his paper. 

Finlay then used the print technique to transfer his colors to the blank message paper on the easel.  He pressed his Paper Palette to the easel paper and then slowly pulled the paper away again. 
He repeated this process multiple times and through this began to layer colors. 

Which colors? You can choose any ones! - Bea

During snack time we discussed what words we would need to add to the message for Victor and Lucilla and how we could receive their response. Our final message says: "Victor and Lucilla, what is your favorite color? Can you put the response in Ines's mailbox? From the Brown Room."

We are excited for their response !

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Finally, the weather is now warm enough for our seedlings to move outside! After watering them, using a spray bottle, Luke and Remy also sang songs to our growing plants. We are sure that it will help them grow big and strong!

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Speaking of being outside, over the weekend, things changed in our outdoor classroom ...
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Dads did it! - Cate

And the moms. - Bea

Everything is different. - Lily

This is amazing! - Finlay
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This is so crazy! Crazy, crazy, crazy! - Daniel

We want to send out a huge THANK YOU to the incredible St. John's community for improving our beautiful outdoor classroom. We appreciate your endless support, love and dedication for St. John's!