On February 17th, 5th grade students rushed into school in
anticipation of the annual 5th grade Heritage Day. For the previous eight
weeks, the students worked on completing the various pieces of the project.
From interviewing aged family members to researching countries of their
ancestor's immigration, Heritage Day was the culminating event. Each
student created a display highlighting all of the things they learned about
their family's history. They made Heritage Day Notebooks, wrote
biographies, crafted poems, cooked traditional dishes, and shared family artifacts. Parents and
grandparents were invited to attend Heritage Day and circulated around the
booths, speaking with students about their family history.
UA's 5th Grade Heritage Day tradition began 10 years ago, when Mrs.
Karlyn Brown was asked to teach Social Studies in 5th grade. "As an
adopted child, I was raised to appreciate my heritage and the heritage of
others. When I first started teaching, I realized that most of my
students had no idea about their families' origins. When I asked them, "Where is your family from?' they would usually reply, 'North
Carolina' or 'South Carolina'. From there I decided to
make my students research their family history, after all almost every United
States citizen's family immigrated from somewhere other than the U.S."
Mr. Frashier, this year’s
5th grade Social Studies teacher, was excited to continue Mrs. Brown’s
tradition and was amazed at the final product. “I am so proud of our students
and all the work they have put into these projects. I wasn’t sure what to expect and was blown
away by how hard the students worked,” said Mr. Frashier. “I loved seeing all of the families come out
to support their kids.”
While this project fits in nicely with the required state Social Studies
and English Language Arts curriculum, the best part is how it brings families
together. Paige McBride, a UA parent whose son graduated in 2016 said,
"I love the heritage projects my kids completed at UA. Wyatt (now
graduated) interviewed his great-grandma who has now passed away. We will
always treasure the binder he did as a family treasure."
"Over the years, I have heard of stories told by grandparents and
great-grandparents that would have been lost without this assignment.
Parents have reported to me that they have learned just as much as the
kids by working on the project," said Mrs. Brown. That is the real
treasure of the 5th grade Heritage Project: families talking, sharing
stories, and celebrating their roots.
"I loved watching the students beam with pride about where
their family was from and what makes their family unique. The students
were eager to share about their history," said Monica Kocell, School Nurse
and parent at UA, who attended this year's event.
Heritage Day is an example
of how Union Academy works to build a caring community (Principle 4 of the 11
Principles of Character Education) and provides a meaningful, challenging
academic curriculum that respects all and develops character (Principle 6 of
the 11 Principles of Character Education.) 
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