Recent prekindergarten pumpkin workshops at John Quincy Adams and May Moore elementary schools gave the district’s youngest students the chance to team up with their parents or grandparents to create something special for the season. During the workshops, which reinforced both art concepts and the idea of cooperation, the students and visiting adults worked together to make decoupage pumpkin candleholders using glass jars, colored tissue paper and glue.

“The pumpkin workshop is a great opportunity for students to practice their fine motor skills with the help of a special grown-up,” said JQA Principal Christine Criscione. “Creating the pumpkin votive candleholder is a way for students to reinforce these skills they are learning along with celebrating fall.”

The events also served as a fun and important way to involve parents more deeply in the daily educational process. “We feel that parental involvement in children’s education is crucial to their development,” said May Moore Principal Alicia Konecny. “To be effective, it has to be a partnership between the family and the school to assure that children are learning to the best of their ability, that they feel safe and supported, and that their parents feel well-informed and involved in making decisions that affect their child’s school experience. This was reflected at the pumpkin workshop, where both parents and children had a wonderful time.”

In keeping with the autumnal harvest theme, students at both schools also enjoyed outdoor pumpkin patch sessions at the schools during October, where they were able to select the gourd of their choice to decorate and take home.