In acknowledgement of our first program, the name, Teachabout, is based on the word 'tijimbat' which is used in Minyerri to mean 'teach your kids about everything'.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people viewing this blog are advised that it may include images of deceased persons.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Daryl: A frenzy of glue-covered fingers

It’s post-race day, and despite my waking up 10 minutes before the start of activities, this Thursday has been one of the most action-packed days of the program so far (okay so maybe not “action-packed”, but we did a lot of things).

The morning, which was thankfully quite warm and didn’t render me shivering as it had the past week, had Rita and I creating and decorating pet grassheads with the kids. The process, far more technical than one would guess, involved planting seeds into a stocking and filling it with soil, connecting it to a plastic cup, and finally, the fun part; glueing a myriad of pipe cleaners and pom poms. With dirt-stained hands and PVA splattered over the table, the kids formed creatures ranging from cats to cowboys, while also learning the basics of magnetism with Eamon (with a particularly strong response to repulsion I hear, which is understandable – it is pretty rad) and participating in a voice recording activity with Jesse.


Then we all got together and kicked off building popsicle stick bridges, needing to support an 800-gram jar of water. Each small group of 2-3 worked in very-near silence, focusing entirely on the task at hand, and everything was rather calm until Eamon announced the final 10 minutes: everyone jumped into overdrive and there was a frenzy of glue-covered fingers frantically sticking the last of the supports to their bridges in hopes of not breaking under the strain.

After a fairly hectic morning, the afternoon was spent learning about electromagnetism, writing stories, and painting self-portraits. It was set to be a fairly relaxing, and everything was going well. We had packed up and the kids were back at camp, and then it happened: Erin heard water running inside the home ec room with the door locked. Thinking it would just be a tap still on, the door was opened, and to our despair, the safety shower was spraying full blast, flooding three quarters of the entire room.

We spent the next two hours recovering from the aftermath, but at least it saves some of the carpet having to be cleaned.


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