Highlands School 2nd-graders raise funds for Italy earthquake victims

Geology and Italy — while a connection between these two topics of study might seem unlikely, teachers at Highlands School would disagree. Italy is this year’s focus in the school’s “Country of Study” program, which incorporates cultural and historical aspects of the country into all levels of 4k to eighth-grade curriculum.

This year, second-grade students got an unplanned geology lesson as well as a chance to give back following the August earthquakes that struck Italy.

Second-grade teacher Rebecca Waylander, who traveled to Italy to learn more for this year’s program, chose to incorporate the earthquake into geology lessons on what conditions factor into an earthquake.

“She really led the second grade in this whole project,” said Janey White, director of marketing and communications at Highlands School. “They happened to be studying geology in the second grade and really doing a deep dive there into the geology information.”

As part of each Country of Study program, Highlands teachers travel to the country of focus to immerse themselves into the culture as well as to learn more about topics ranging from architecture and history to language and music.

“I think that especially having teachers that have kind of immersed themselves into the culture, they can really spot those opportunities [for new lessons] immediately. They really plug it into real time,” White said.

Teachers consistently work to incorporate cultural lessons into art, foreign language and math, White said, which helps students connect to a variety of concepts. 

In addition to learning about the geology of tectonic plates in the classroom, Highlands second-graders wanted to take what they learned one step further. They wanted to give back. The two second-grade classes, about 40 students, chose to hold a fundraiser for those affected by the earthquake.

“It’s not just learning in a vacuum, but they were really able to see, ‘Wow, we were learning about this, and this literally just happened,’” White said.

Students opened the “Highlands Hard Rock Café” as part of the fundraiser, selling rock-themed snacks such as rock candy and cupcakes with Pop Rocks and selling pet rocks. The “pet rocks” were decorated by the students, who first collected rocks, identified the type of rock and then had them for sale throughout the school day.

While teachers were present to supervise the sale, White said it was ultimately an opportunity for students to pull everything together. 

“They build this from the ground up,” White said. “They’re really running this project, and I think it’s a unique sense of ownership we’re giving them.”

Through the fundraiser, students were able to raise around $850 to donate to earthquake victims. 

The earthquake provided a unique learning opportunity for students, White said, but the school’s focus on Italy has spanned several other topics. By focusing on Italy, there has also been a focus on the Renaissance and how that era influenced art, science and philosophy. 

Students have learned through quotes of Renaissance thinkers, incorporated an Italian play into a theater performance and focused on character building. 

“We’re able to really tie it [the country of study] into just the theme of the curriculum, not just on a case by case basis,” White said.