Irma Lemus
HILLSIDE DISTRICT -- It may have been a Halloween project to build
scarecrows, but in the process, St. Francis Xavier School students
learned some valuable lessons.
On Monday morning, about 35 life-sized scarecrows, created out of
"trash" and recyclable items, were displayed at the school. The
scarecrows, which were built by students and their families, were placed
around the school Sunday evening to surprise students Monday morning.
The idea came to first-grade teacher Nan Lazzaretto as she visited the
city of Caen on the Normandy coast of France last year.
A children's park in Caen included scarecrows created by local
families, Lazzaretto said. The project was part of an effort to rebuild
the war-torn city of Caen after World War II, she said.
Lazzaretto wanted her students to learn that sort of teamwork. "It
gave families the opportunity to work together," Lazzaretto said.
"The families really had fun with it. One [scarecrow] was even built
using an old garbage can and empty coffee cans," she said.
The scarecrow project, which took about two months to complete, was a
combined religion and social studies project. Lazzaretto said she hoped
her students learned the effects of war and the power of the people of
Caen in working together to rebuild the city.
Although this is the second year St. Francis Xavier has done the
project, Lazzaretto said students still were surprised to see the
scarecrows when they arrived Monday morning.
"The students loved it so much last year that we decided to do it
again," she said.
