marshmallows and creativity

Our sixth graders took the Marshmallow Challenge and learned some valuable lessons on teamwork, collaboration, innovation, and creativity! The Marshmallow Challenge is a design challenge in which each team is given 20 spaghetti sticks, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. They have 18 minutes to build the tallest marshmallow holding structure.


After their first attempts we took a break to watch this:



Our sixth graders relished the challenge and congrats to Abe, Henry, Luke, and Oona! Their design was 24" high and Julien, Natalie, and Reggie came in at a close second with 23" high.



Adrianna and Morgan had a really creative way of using the yarn as a marshmallow holder!



Special thanks to NCS mom Linda King who found vegan marshmallows for me! I'll definitely be using them next year:)

second grade garden contours

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. -Rachel Carson


The second graders found natural objects in the garden to use as inspiration for an observation based drawing. Each leaf, flower, or twig was carefully observed and recreated using only contour lines (the most important lines of an object that give it shape). The piece was finished with a special watercolor technique and white gel pen details. It is always such a pleasure to see these young artists take the time to study the smallest details.