The Lower Elementary students actively engaged in studies and enactments of various cultural activities surrounding Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday and Pancake Day. The students researched the history behind the seasonal celebrations which are inclusive to the Montessori curriculum studies of the Needs of Humans.
Lower Elementary Directresses, Debby DeGuire and Elaine Allessio guided the children in artistic extensions of the study. The students strung beaded necklaces and created face masks. Jason Silverman and Marina Keator were selected as the King and Queen of Mardi Gras. They led their classmates on a fun pancake race based on the classes’ study of a 1445 incident in Olney, England when a housewife late for services arrived at the church door wearing her apron and still clutching her frying pan! After the race all competitors enjoyed a pancake, strawberries and whipped cream treat!