Post by blackcrowheart on Feb 19, 2006 21:35:44 GMT -5
Students break bread with history
Newport fourth-graders go native in food-based project to study colonial
life on California's early 19th century missions.
By Michael Miller
(Published: February 13, 2006)
For her class project on life in the California missions, Melia
Spooner-Heath decided to cook an authentic mission meal, circa 1800. And
that meant forsaking Betty Crocker.
Nine-year-old Melia, a fourth-grader at Newport Elementary School, baked
corn bread and served it to her class last week. She and her older
brother had ventured to the San Bernardino Mountains to pick acorns,
then cracked them with bricks, leached the tannin from them and ground
them into dust with a Native American pounding stone.
In the end, Melia said, the dish came out fine -- even if it took days
to make.
"Everyone thought it was pretty good," she said. "It's sweet."
On Thursday, Melia's bread was among the projects lining the
multipurpose room for Newport Elementary's Mission Walk, an event that
capped a month-long unit on California's colonial history. The school's
three fourth-grade classes created models of the 26 missions and also
cooked, painted pictures and made other crafts that evoked the West
Coast of two centuries ago.
The world of the California missions was a complex one -- and one that
has divided historians for years. On one hand, the Spanish padres who
founded the missions paved the way for modern-day California society; on
the other hand, they did so at the expense of the Native Americans by
converting them, sometimes harshly, to Western ways of life.
Teacher Nancy Lester said the mission unit didn't shy away from the
darker parts of the past, but didn't dwell on them, either.
"It's reported in our social-studies books that the Indians were
mistreated, that they were expected to wear different clothing, eat
different food, have a different religion, and they weren't allowed to
leave," she said. "We told them the facts, but that's not the focal
point of our lessons."
Culture clash notwithstanding, the missions were an essential part of
California history, and the three fourth-grade teachers at Newport
Elementary -- Lester, Bruce Olander and Kathleen Wingerd -- gave
students a thorough tour of their heritage. On Friday, the classes
visited Mission San Juan Capistrano; over winter break, many students
had gone on their own to missions around the state.
Across California every year, fourth-graders participate in the Mission
Project, which opens itself to different kinds of creativity. Newport
Elementary student Heidi Fults, 9, baked a cake for her class in the
shape of Mission San Francisco de Asis -- with crackers for the roof, a
white-chocolate front porch and a licorice cross on top.
Despite the impeccable artistry, she said, the class intended to eat the
cake after the Mission Walk.
Marco Bruscia, 9, made a clay statue of Father Junipero Serra, the
founder of the California missions. Despite the austere conditions of
mission life, Marco said he found it fascinating.
"It looks like an interesting life, to live on a mission," he said. "The
food is different. It's amazing how good it tastes, though."
* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education
writer Michael Miller visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa area and
writes about his experience.
Newport fourth-graders go native in food-based project to study colonial
life on California's early 19th century missions.
By Michael Miller
(Published: February 13, 2006)
For her class project on life in the California missions, Melia
Spooner-Heath decided to cook an authentic mission meal, circa 1800. And
that meant forsaking Betty Crocker.
Nine-year-old Melia, a fourth-grader at Newport Elementary School, baked
corn bread and served it to her class last week. She and her older
brother had ventured to the San Bernardino Mountains to pick acorns,
then cracked them with bricks, leached the tannin from them and ground
them into dust with a Native American pounding stone.
In the end, Melia said, the dish came out fine -- even if it took days
to make.
"Everyone thought it was pretty good," she said. "It's sweet."
On Thursday, Melia's bread was among the projects lining the
multipurpose room for Newport Elementary's Mission Walk, an event that
capped a month-long unit on California's colonial history. The school's
three fourth-grade classes created models of the 26 missions and also
cooked, painted pictures and made other crafts that evoked the West
Coast of two centuries ago.
The world of the California missions was a complex one -- and one that
has divided historians for years. On one hand, the Spanish padres who
founded the missions paved the way for modern-day California society; on
the other hand, they did so at the expense of the Native Americans by
converting them, sometimes harshly, to Western ways of life.
Teacher Nancy Lester said the mission unit didn't shy away from the
darker parts of the past, but didn't dwell on them, either.
"It's reported in our social-studies books that the Indians were
mistreated, that they were expected to wear different clothing, eat
different food, have a different religion, and they weren't allowed to
leave," she said. "We told them the facts, but that's not the focal
point of our lessons."
Culture clash notwithstanding, the missions were an essential part of
California history, and the three fourth-grade teachers at Newport
Elementary -- Lester, Bruce Olander and Kathleen Wingerd -- gave
students a thorough tour of their heritage. On Friday, the classes
visited Mission San Juan Capistrano; over winter break, many students
had gone on their own to missions around the state.
Across California every year, fourth-graders participate in the Mission
Project, which opens itself to different kinds of creativity. Newport
Elementary student Heidi Fults, 9, baked a cake for her class in the
shape of Mission San Francisco de Asis -- with crackers for the roof, a
white-chocolate front porch and a licorice cross on top.
Despite the impeccable artistry, she said, the class intended to eat the
cake after the Mission Walk.
Marco Bruscia, 9, made a clay statue of Father Junipero Serra, the
founder of the California missions. Despite the austere conditions of
mission life, Marco said he found it fascinating.
"It looks like an interesting life, to live on a mission," he said. "The
food is different. It's amazing how good it tastes, though."
* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education
writer Michael Miller visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa area and
writes about his experience.