A few more school stories

So this year we have been doing an informal study of elephants. The reasons for this is that the kids like to talk about animals (a universal subject) and they often like to hear stories where bad things happen but then everything turns out all right in the end (the universal fairy tale theme). Also, we like to use technology, and live web cams are like magic to these kiddos. So anyway, my Dad suggested that we check out the Elecam at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Each of the elephants has a history (some tragic, others not so bad), but they're all happy now in the Sanctuary.

One of the most tragic stories is about the elephant named Sissy. Her full story is here, but the part that caught my kids' attention was the time she was in a zoo in the early 80's, and a massive flood came and swept through the zoo. Sissy was found several days later, with only her trunk visible above the water, as she had been trapped between two tree trunks. Sissy was rescued, but she was (understandably) terrified of storms from that day on. One of my boys drew this picture on the whiteboard of Sissy stuck underwater:


The picture just breaks my heart! Another detail that I didn't mention was that Sissy lived alone for many years, and the only "friend" she had was a car tire that she carried around everywhere. However, the tire was nowhere to be seen when she was stuck in the tree. One of the other boys said, "She must have been so scared when the tire was washed away! It would be just like a thunderstorm taking a little kid's favorite blanket away!"

But the good news is that Sissy lives in the Sanctuary now, and she is slowly getting over her storm fears, and since she is around many other elephants she doesn't need to carry her tire around with her as much ("which is good, because it means she feels safe, and she can leave her toys at home when she goes out to play," one of the kids told me).

I'll put up more of the elephant pictures when I get a chance, because the kids and I have been talking about nothing but elephants for about two months now...

And, just to take you back to your own days in elementary school, here are some shots of a "fort" several of the boys got to build when they earned some free time:


Remember when it was the coolest thing in the world when the teacher gave you time to build anything you wanted with the math materials?