February, 2006

Students say "Ciao" to 2006 Winter Olympics with international desserts

Duanesburg Elementary School's fourth-grade classes marked the close of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy by sampling a variety of desserts from around the globe.

Fourth-grade teacher Melissa Durrant thanked her colleagues and the kitchen and custodial staff for their cooperation as well as parents for their support of the celebration - dubbed the International Dessert Olympics.

"The Winter Olympics happen every four years and are an opportunity for athletes from different countries to compete in a positive way," Durrant said. "The fourth-grade teachers thought it would be nice to have our own closing ceremony and provide students a chance to try foods from other countries."

Some of the international delights students had an opportunity to taste included Russian tea cakes, rugelach, flan, cannoli, Linzer Schnitten, shortbread cookies, German spice cookies among other goodies. 
Tara Nunez helped her mom make flan, a custard-like dessert popular in the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries. "I never had it before, but I like it," she said.

In the weeks leading up to the celebration, fourth-grade students studied Olympic customs, traditions, history and sports as part of a Social Studies unit. Students used laptop computers to complete Web Quests - inquiry-based activities in which some or all of the information students learn come from resources on the Internet. Students were given roles, such as athlete, historian, reporter, traditionalist and venue planner, and then instructed to research the specific topics and answer questions related to the Olympics.
Sarah Brown said she learned the Olympic motto and about mascots.

As a venue planner, Stephen Gregory decided to research luge after reading an article on NBC's Olympic Web site. "I thought it sounded cool," he said. "I learned some interesting stuff like the luge track's base is concrete and it is covered by layers of ice that is kept frozen by a refrigeration system."

Before Wyatt Dean researched bobsledding in his role as athlete, he thought the teams raced against each other at the same time just as racecar drivers do in NASCAR. "I didn't realize the teams race against the clock to beat the time set by the other teams," he said. 

As an Olympic historian, Tyler Brown learned facts about the torch. "A different torch is designed for each Olympics," he said," and the torch burns until the games are over."

Students also created posters of their favorite Winter Olympic sport, athlete or team.

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