The Penelope Project: Fun-ded!!

"You win some, you lose some." That's what I told myself at the beginning of this school year. I was bummed because I hadn't yet heard about a grant I'd written way back in May. The grant instructions said we'd know by July, and in mid-August, still nothing.

The grant was going to fund The Penelope Project, an experimental archaeology lesson plan to build large-scale warp-weighted looms for the students to weave on. This community weaving project would create woven sunshades for our campus that any students could contribute to. In addition to the looms, the grant was written to include outdoor furniture so that the students could sit outside, read, weave, and enjoy the cooler weather of fall and winter. 

As I checked the status of the grant online and found nothing, I was beginning to put aside my dream for this year. There's always next year, I told myself. Even though we weren't funded, we can still have FUN.

But then something unexpected happened. During my school's parent night, I set up stations in my classroom for parents to visit. One of them was about the Penelope Project and specifically asked for woodworking skills to help build the looms we need. A full week later, I got an email from a parent volunteering her father. When I emailed her back with specifics, I then got a very long, detailed email with specifications and research from the woodworker himself! He thought he could figure out how to build an ancient Roman/Greek warp-weighted loom, and he was ready to go. He even offered to build us a more permanent loom meant to stay in my classroom for future lessons on weaving in my Roman Technology class.

The very next day on Friday afternoon, before I'd had a chance to return his email, I went to the copy room to prepare some paperwork for Monday. When I looked up at my mailbox (yes, we still have physical mailboxes), I spotted a letter in it. When I opened it, I was shocked to find a letter stating that the Penelope Project had been funded. We got the grant after all! Enclosed was a check in the amount of $2025.00. Thanks to Baton Rouge's Academic Distinction Fund for their generosity.

As we prepare for this project, I can't wait to dig more into the ancient technology of weaving. Years ago, when I wanted my students to learn this ancient skill, I taught myself with YouTube videos on small hand-made cardboard looms and even took a class from a modern weaving artist. It's become one of my favorite little side hobbies. But modern loom weaving is very different from large-scale fabric production weaving. I'll be looking for resources from the experts out there. Can YOU help? It's gonna be FUN!

Myth Makers - Pandora's Box Project

This year, I'm teaching a class called Myth Makers. We read the stories of ancient Greek and Roman mythology and use them as inspiration for all kinds of projects. I have 85 students enrolled in 3 sections, and the kids represent a wide variety of ages (10-15), backgrounds, and abilities. We spend a LOT of time reading the stories and writing about them. But the best part of this class is the maker component. In each unit, I design a project that asks the students to think creatively. 

In our first unit about the "beginning of time," the students read the story of Pandora. They love this story. You may recall that Pandora was the first woman, given to humankind as a "gift" but really as a punishment. Gifted with curiosity by Zeus, Pandora is tasked with not opening a mysterious jar (or box, in later versions of the story). When she finally gives in to her curiosity, Pandora unleashes all the evils of the world, such as gossip, theft, jealousy, etc. All this detail is rich fodder for student outrage, but the bit that gets the kids really riled up is the fact that HOPE is left inside the box. It raises all kinds of questions such as "Why was hope in a box of evils?" and "Why did Zeus do this to people?" and "Why is hope left INSIDE the box? Does it really not exist in the world?"

This questioning of the story led me to design a project that allows students an opportunity to meditate further on this fascinating tale. They get to create their own Pandora's box! I teach them how to make a box out of paper (a simple origami method), and then they decorate the box as they think the original might have looked. (Was it beautiful to create more temptation, or was it just a plain box? Or did it have a mysterious light shining from within like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction? LOL)

Once the students have created their boxes, their next job is to write about the evils that are flying out of them. I ask them to pick five evils that are affecting the world, their home state, their school, their own personal lives, and one that they think will never be fixed. This writing prompt really gets the kids thinking, and it also helps me get to know them. At the beginning of the year, that information is helpful to have.

Can I tell you that I absolutely LOVE to read these projects? Some of them are hilarious - one kid this year picked our school system's superintendent! (To be fair, the start of our year has been challenging due to a school bus crisis that involved a bus driver strike, long-overdue bus maintenance, and an extreme heat wave, and many of these problems were blamed on our leader.) Others picked predictable evils like social media overuse and homework. My favorite evil was the overpumping of our city's aquifer by chemical companies and subsequent saltwater intrusion! I'm pretty sure that the student learned about that evil in a unit on water systems in last year's Roman technology class so that made me super proud.

After everyone is done with the project, the students do a showcase walk. After displaying each project on a desk, the students rotate their seats so that they eventually see everyone else's project and write their thoughts on similarities and differences. They take this work so seriously and really enjoy seeing their classmates' projects. It's a great way to start the year!

Interested in bringing this project to your Latin/classics classroom or club? You can find project details here.

Our superintendent does not have hair so...