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Second Graders Collaborate with Seventh Graders on Washington, D.C. Monument Project
Second graders and seventh graders presented the results of a collaborative project on Friday morning at the Lower School as students showed off replicas of Washington, D.C. monuments they created to the entire Lower School.
The project, now in its second year, was made possible through a partnership between second grade teacher Jenny Olin and seventh grade teacher Savi Tuber.
Seventh graders first connected with their second grade partners over Google Hangout, then traveled regularly to the Potomac Village campus from the Postoak campus to work with their partners in person.
The groups were tasked with building a replica of a Washington, D.C. monument, creating a poster with information about the monument, and presenting their work to the Lower School during an assembly.
Last year, second graders were randomly assigned monuments. This year, students got to choose their monument, which Olin said made a difference.
“I’m really happy with the results,” Olin said. “This year I outlined less restrictions, and they chose (monuments) that really resonated with them.”
Over the weeks that the students worked together, Tuber said he saw a connection develop between the older and younger students.
“I thought this year the relationships were stronger and they seemed to have a good bond,” Tuber said. “The seventh graders thought so highly of the second graders.”
Arad Mehrabian ‘27 and Thomas Flecker ’22 worked together on a model of the White House.
“It’s fun. He’s nice,” Arad said of his partner.
Thomas said he was impressed with Arad’s intelligence and said when he was in second grade, he would have enjoyed working with an older student.
“It’s nice to work with the kids,” Thomas said. “I remember being younger, especially with my cousins. It was always fun to be with the older kids.”
Tulli Kethavath ’27 and Ana Lucia Chalmers ’22 said they both appreciated each other’s creativity as they constructed a replica of the National Museum of the American Indian.
“She’s super fun to work with and she’s super creative and she loves to give new ideas,” Ana said. “She collaborates really well.”
For Sasha Stanislavovich ‘22, the project was an opportunity for her to see another side of her brother, Andrei ‘27. The siblings collaborated on a replica of the Holocaust Museum.
“He’s really shy here. He’s not shy at home,” Sasha said. “He’s calm…but I like this type of Andrei too.”
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is a private, coeducational college preparatory day school for students in preschool (Age 2) through grade 12, located in Potomac, Maryland.