By Katie Vasquez
Legends came to life at Bay Ridge Catholic Academy.
Fifth graders at the Brooklyn Catholic school created elaborate drawings inspired by ancient Greece, and even got into character.
“I’m dressed up as Persephone, the daughter of Demeter. She likes plants and to harvest things, and you know I like nature,” said fifth grader Lia Cafiero.
“I’m dressed up as Atalanta, who is a huntress and is really fast,” explained fellow fifth grader Alessia Scheidler. “So she has these gold wristbands and this long dress because that’s what they wore in her age.”
The academy’s gym was set up like an exposition hall with the students’ projects on display. Students were able to demonstrate what they had learned in class over the past few months.
“We learned that Apollo was the god of the sun,” fifth grader Joseph Patrick Baez told Currents News. “And also we learned a funny thing that Phaethon, the son of Apollo, caused total catastrophe when he rode his father’s chariot throughout the sky.”
“I wrote the summary, and we just decided today that they would be acting it out,” explained fifth grader Miriam Dodds, “because we thought it would intrigue people who are coming.”
Other grades and parents, like Christina Cafiero, were invited to learn more about Greek mythology.
“I think it’s also great. Instead of just sitting at a desk all the time learning, they were up and doing things,” Cafiero told Currents News. “They were on the phone chatting about what they’re going to do, planning their costumes and planning their boards together.”
Fifth grade teacher Patrick Hunter said he hoped the project would help the lessons sink in by turning students into educators for the day.
“It gives them the opportunity to think deeply about a specific myth, use different ways of understanding, like drawing and looking at pictures,” Hunter said. “And that storytelling is a really important way of engaging the mind.”
The expo wrapped up the students’ lesson on mythology, and each student will be graded for their work.